People think I should be a multi-millionaire if I had gotten the right contract. I'm not getting anything for all that commercial stuff they do. But I would have had to pay for that.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
My motivation wasn't really to get a $95 million contract, you know?
I've been offered a few professional contracts... in the hundreds and thousands.
In all honesty, I'm not able to talk about contracts. It's nothing with 'American Idol' in particular, it's just things I really need to take care of in my life.
I know a lot of people who have tremendous commercial success and they go directly for it. There's something that has always been difficult about that for me.
One of the towering people in this industry said, why don't you go and make a five-year contract with somebody, make yourself several million dollars and put it away, then go and do whatever you want, work for public TV if you want.
One of the biggest wake-up calls of my career was when I saw a record contract. I said, 'Wait - you sell it for $18.98 and I make 80 cents? And I have to pay you back the money you lent me to make it and then you own it?'
And my rookie contract, my first rookie contract was for $5,000.
It took a long time to get out of my contract. The producers thought I was negotiating for more money.
To this day, I still haven't touched one dime of my signing bonus or NFL contract money. I live off my marketing money and haven't blown it on any big-money expensive cars, expensive jewelry, or tattoos and still wear my favorite pair of jeans from high school.
Suddenly I had a contract and I was earning lots of money.