League minimum this year is $405,000. I think they can afford a cab on that wage.
What isn't considered is the thousands of players on farm teams that make 80k. However, they're generally not the ones ending up in the news (nor the ones that this benefit covers).
They are far from being a developmental league where players hone skills with the hopes of "being called up to the big leagues", like what baseball, hockey, and to a lesser extent basketball do.
Sure, most anyone making a decent salary can afford a cab in most cities.
I was just pointing out that the caricaturization of all NFL players as multi-millionaires who could afford to rent limos every time they went out is unfair and not really true for the majority of them.
The NFL has no farm system:
> The National Football League, as of 2010, is the only one of the four major professional sports in the USA that does not have a farm system.
My understanding is the median household income in the US is approx. $50,000 - about 32 years' worth of work to equal the (minimum) earnings of an NFL draftee.
They're hardly struggling, even if the contract isn't renewed and they have to find another job.
http://www.bucsdugout.com/2013/1/14/3874488/minor-league-bas...