As the final day of the 2020 NFL draft commenced, former New York Jets great Wayne Chrebet decided to celebrate a 25-year anniversary on social media. He tweeted a copy of his first NFL contract, dated April 25, 1995. He noted his modest signing bonus — $1,500.
“Thought I was rich,” the 46-year-old wrote in his tweet on Saturday.
After a stellar college career at Hofstra, the Long Island-based school that housed the Jets’ training facility at the time, Chrebet signed as an undrafted free agent. Nowadays, undrafted players — the good ones, anyway — will get about 10 times that amount for their signing bonus.
25 years ago I signed my 1st NFL Contract. Check out the $1500 signing bonus. Thought I was rich.#undrafted #JET4LIFE pic.twitter.com/BaaXQ22UPC
— Wayne Chrebet (@waynechrebet) April 25, 2020
In 1995, Chrebet was considered the ultimate long shot. Most folks figured the Jets gave him a contract as a favor to Hofstra, but the receiver proved it was much more than that. Starting out as the 10th wide receiver on a 10-man depth chart, he leapfrogged the competition and earned a spot in the Jets’ starting lineup by opening day.
Not bad for someone who, on the first day of training camp, was temporarily detained by a security guard who thought the 5-foot-10 Chrebet was an autograph-seeking fan trying to crash practice.
Chrebet went on to deliver one of the legendary careers in Jets franchise history. In 11 seasons, he caught 580 passes for 7,365 yards and 41 touchdowns and was named to the Jets’ Ring of Honor.
He wound up making more than $10 million in career earnings, a pretty good parlay on a $1,500 bonus.