Former NFL offensive lineman Russell Okung made a big risk when he put in a special request for how his salary should be paid out when he signed for the Carolina Panthers – but it’s worked wonders for him.
Okung is a Super Bowl champion with the Seattle Seahawks and a two-time Pro Bowler who was a widely heralded prospect coming out of Oklahoma State University in 2009.
He was taken sixth overall by the Seahawks and quickly became one of the league’s best players in his position.
But toward the end of his career, after stops with the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers, Okung made a special request for his last contract when he signed with the Carolina Panthers after a trade.
Okung revealed that he had requested the team pay out half of his $13million salary in Bitcoin – and it’s paid off.
Russell Okung made the choice to take half his 2020 salary in Bitcoin, and it’s worked for him
Okung won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks, but is also a winner off of the field
The team accepted Okung’s request and the current value of his Bitcoin wallet is believed to be worth the equivalent of around $20million.
Granted, when the coin bubble was experiencing a rough patch back in 2021, no one would have faulted Okung for trying to pull the plug.
But he stayed strong – posting on his Twitter account, ‘They will laugh not but will cry later.’
‘Money is more than currency; it’s power,’ Okung told CNBC back in 2020. ‘The way money is handled from creation to dissemination is part of that power.
‘Getting paid in bitcoin is the first step of opting out of the corrupt, manipulated economy we all inhabit.’
‘When we are all paid in bitcoin, no one can tell us what to do with the value we create… In a post-fiat world, you won’t have to worry about your labor and time being stolen.’
Okung spends plenty of time on social media trying to convince other athletes to follow him
Okung retired from the NFL in 2023 after having not played a snap since the 2020 season.
These days, he spends his time on social media promoting Bitcoin and trying to encourage other athletes to follow his footsteps.
‘Odd how the NFL spent millions teaching us not to go broke, but the billionaire owners never shared how to build wealth. All I did was buy bitcoin, now we make history,’ the former lineman posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.
It’s unclear if Okung ever has plans to convert some of his coins into cash, but for the time being, it appears the lineman hopes to ride the Bitcoin train all the way.
