A former NFL WAG revealed how being the partner of a pro football player is not always as prestigious and glamorous as it appears.
Bryce Watts Hansen, wife of former NFL free agent Chad Hansen, lifted the lid on their family’s finances and exposed the lesser-seen side of the WAG lifestyle.
After playing for the Cal Golden Bears, Chad was selected by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He appeared in 17 games as a rookie before getting waived by the team in September 2018.
In a TikTok video, Bryce broke down the little-known realities and struggles faced by free agents and their families, primarily with their finances.
‘He was on 8 different NFL teams,’ Bryce says in the video, explaining, ‘That means eight different contracts are being signed and broken.’
She also noted that NFL pay is ‘good money no matter what.’
@brycewattshansen
Replying to @TooOldToBHere Let me know what else you guys are curious about! #formerwag #nflwag #nfl101
♬ original sound – Bryce Watts 
Bryce Watts Hansen lifted the lid on the less-seen side of being an NFL WAG in a TikTok video
Your browser does not support iframes.
Bryce admitted she ‘knows the drill’ with unexpected waives that often lead to relocating. ‘You’re a professional mover,’ she joked. ‘Six different states, eight different teams.’
‘I know how to get a flight [and] move all our stuff. It’s kind of just like a cost that you have to eat,’ She explains. ‘It’s just like all these little things that you can like have to play out in your head.’
In light of Chad’s recent retirement, Bryce acknowledged that they ‘all understand’ they are blessed and in a great position while the ‘money is nothing to scoff at’ in the NFL. Still, she wants to ‘have a conversation beyond that.’
‘It’s interesting because it’s something that I didn’t know,’ Bryce said of her past self, who ‘thought NFL players are millionaires.’ She added, ‘That would have been really great if that was the case, if we were one team and all that stuff. But you know, that’s just not the reality for everybody.’
Among the factors she noted is the differences in NFL contracts. Bryce explained that contracts differ depending on the team, player, position, and other details. For her wide receiver husband, consistency was not guaranteed.
‘That means eight different contracts are being signed and broken,’ Bryce says in her TikTok video. While noting ‘it is good money’ regardless of being signed to a team’s ‘practice squad’ or ‘active roster,’ Bryce reiterated ‘These contracts aren’t guaranteed.’
‘He signed a contract. Then a couple months later you get nothing, especially if you sign at the beginning of offseason and then you’re cut during offseason,’ Bryce explains. ‘You’re not seeing any of that money because you haven’t played again and again, you haven’t gone to practice.’
Chad Hansen played for eight different teams in the NFL after getting drafted out of Berkley
Bryce broke down their finances during Chad’s time in the NFL as they moved from city to city
Apart from the contractual inconsistencies, she noted the moving expenses that come with the constant and unpredictable movement from team to team.
At one point, Bryce admitted they were paying for three different rents at once.
‘It was a little bit of ignorance on our part, but also we couldn’t really prepare for that situation,’ She explained.
‘He had just signed, renewed his lease for his place in New Jersey, and then was released with New Jersey after being drafted the year before,’ Bryce recalls. ‘You have the ᴀssumption in your head that if you’re being drafted, they’re investing in you for at least that first contract that you have.’
In Chad’s rookie year, Bryce recalled him getting cut shortly after signing the lease to their new residence. He was then picked up by the Patriots, which required them to move to Foxborough, Mᴀssachusetts.
‘I was actually looking for a place in the Foxborough for us to say,’ recalls Bryce, who says, ‘The day that I came back and said, ‘Hey, I actually have a couple places that I thought were pretty cool,’ he told me that he was released.’
‘Moving is not cheap — and a lot of times, like for us, you want security,’ Bryce adds.
Hansen was drafted by the New York Jets and appeared in 15 games before getting released
‘I think we were with Atlanta for like a month and a half — and I think overall, it ended up coming out to like $10,000 for us to move there and move all of our stuff there,’ she says. Random little stuff that you really don’t think about… that’s really where the costs added up for us, especially moving.’
After explaining other factors such as having to stay in H๏τels for given periods and investing the money they have, Bryce praised Chad for having a steadfast atтιтude and being smart with his money.
‘I will give it to my husband,’ she says in the TikTok. ‘He’s a boring spender, but he’s very smart in doing what he did because it allowed us to do all this stuff like when he wasn’t on the team consistently and then got on the Texans in 2020.’
Over his NFL career, Chad made 26 receptions for 330 yards and a touchdown. After leaving the NFL in 2022, he played for the DC Defenders and St. Louis BattleHawks in the XFL.
