Not bad for a guy who just two years ago was sending home his college meal stipend to help support his mother Dietra, a single mom in Convent, Louisiana, a tiny town located an hour south from the LSU campus where he starred for three seasons.
Landry’s adolescent life was a struggle: dad wasn’t around, so mom worked two jobs to simply keep the lights on. For a while, he was sent to live with a family friend because he needed a father-figure in his life.
So when it comes to the importance of saving and managing money, Landry speaks from experience. He never wants his children or his children’s children to go through what he did.
“As a kid, it’s hard to understand what’s really happening, because you don’t really know,” Landry said. “As I grew up, I understood what sacrifice, work ethic, and things like that means because of what my mom displayed when I was a kid. I didn’t understand that. Now when I see it, it’s courageous. Again, it’s one of the reasons I love her today.”
And now that Landry has money, he wants to make sure he keeps as much of it as possible. He used a little of his salary bonus — a sum of just more than $800,000 — to help his mom and brother get their financial affairs in order and to buy a car. The rest, he saved.
And his weekly paycheck? A good chunk of that goes into the bank too. Kaleb Thornhill, the Dolphins’ director of player engagement, suggests that players save at least half of their salary. Landry took that advice to heart.
“It’s something that affects everyone,” Landry said. “I think, for me, I wish I had someone come speak to me as a kid to kind of get a jump-start on it as a youth.
“You always hear the stories, coming out of college, all the guys that go broke,” he added. “It’s definitely was in my mind. Then actually seeing money and how a lifestyle can drain your pockets, again, Kaleb, teaching us, it’s definitely something we need to aware of.”
Like all young players, Landry has one eye on his second contract. The deal he signed as a rookie changed his life; the lucrative next contract could set him for life.
If he keeps making plays like he did Sunday, it’s only a matter of time.
