This former NFL player knows what it means to be rich and stay rich
Former University of Miami Cane & NFL Player Phillip Buchanon sat down with us exclusively as he dishes on his new book New Money: Staying Rich, his take on the NFL today, what he has been up to, and more.
Check out the interview.
Congratulations on your book, New Money: Staying Rich. What was the inspiration behind the book?
Phillip Buchanon: The inspiration behind my book, New Money: Staying Rich was that I was going through a lot of things when I first got my money, I didn’t understand like how to really handle money like that….so it was something that was really taught and I was educated on the balance of money & knowing how to handle certain situations with family & friends, just dealing with people in general but with me like I was riding home one day from my hometown Fort Myers and one of my best friends told me that I should write a book about my experiences to kind of tell people & actually educate other players about stuff your going through since you get a lot of money and my aunt in Miami Mary Buchanon kept telling me that I should write a book. I went back to school and finished my degree when I was hurt and two of my professors told me they thought it will be a wonderful idea for me to write a novel saying about the trials & tribulations of what I went through when I first got my money so that was the inspiration behind it.
What can fans expect from this book?
P.B.: They could expect everything under the sun, I’m being very truthful about the situation with my family & a lot of stuff about my friends, these are stories that may brought up in the wrong way but I’m not here to embarrassed anybody I’m just telling my story from my perspective and this is just to really educate. I’m talking about dealing with financial advisors, I called them “financial molestors” and I talk about who could make you broker. I call the people who are in your life, I called them assaultors you know what you know the term “child abusers” but I have a different definition to explain some of the things & I also have some football stories too and most of those stories cater towards my career in the NFL, and some of those stories might not be setting the right light but I’m gearing my perspective of me and some of the things I went through could have been handled a lot better by certain teams that I played on. I talked about the importance of having a mentor and different stuff like that but pretty much everything in my book I’m speaking the truth and I’m not holding back so you definitely be entertained you know about the girls, everything and about having fun, and about me hanging out with Hollywood stars & Jay Z & stuff like that.
What is your take on the new NFL personal conduct policy?
P.B.: It’s a step in the right direction just because whenever you do anything there’s always room for improvement and right now the NFL trying to make improvements, they want fans to look at the NFL as being a first class organization, and some of the things that they went through it wasn’t the best situation but it was a step in the right direction.
Who is your favorite player that you look at during every game?
P.B.: I don’t really know right now. I have players who I talked to and kind of mentored not like Stephon Gilmore, I’m trying to think off top of my head right now. Honestly, I want to see everybody do good and shout out to my do or dies and pretty much the Florida guys because they’re from Miami & South Florida. Me honestly, I’ve been focused on doing my children’s books, all of my board games, working on apps, and comic books so honestly, I really haven’t been paying attention to it but when I get a chance to watch it I just watch it. I’m so glued to the tv because I don’t believe in fantasy football, I think fantasy football is cool but I don’t think it’s for me.
Would you ever consider maybe coaching a team one day?
P.B.: Yeah, I’m interested in coaching. I think coaching is part of my future whether it will be starting out in high school or starting out in college, I don’t know yet but we see how that play out…but I’m always evaluating certain situations and I just catch myself from certain situations like the play of our calls when I watch the game, I’m always in tuned to it to see what could possibility happen. I could see myself coaching pretty soon at some point.
Who do you see going to The Super Bowl?
P.B.: The two teams that I will see playing in the Super Bowl right now for me watching it…it’s kind of hard Arizona Cardinals started out good but right now things are kind of rocky..but it’s kind of hard to take away from the defended champs in that area. Like I said I haven’t been paying attention and I just been focused on what I do best. When I get focused on something I get focused on it and pretty much that’s what I been doing. If I had to say it you can’t knock the New England Patriots right now because their doing good. I would say the New England Patriots and Seahawks.
How does it feel to see both the NBA & the NFL stand up for Mike Brown & Eric Garner?
P.B.: Awww man that feels good. I mean that shows that we stand for a lot as far as the NFL players, I take my hat off to them, LeBron James, Derrick Rose, and Kobe Bryant and pretty much anybody that wore a t-shirt and stood up for it. That showing the progress & hopefully we could make some progress, and go in the right direction. I’m happy to see it and whenever I seen it I retweeted it on Twitter and if I saw it on Facebook, I just repost it so those are some of the things I did. I love the movement and I love how the NFL & the NBA got behind it and I even saw a soccer player wearing a t-shirt, I forgot what team he played for but it was overseas. I was pleased to see that.
What will be your advice for fellow retired NFL players when it comes to money?
P.B.: Very interesting question (laughs). When it comes to money, I will say the top five people who you associated with on the daily basis have a direct effect on whether you’re being professional or not having the unsuccessful transition just because it’s more by the transition when you’re playing football a lot of guys don’t transition well because their friends don’t have the right friends or the right mentor. Having the right people in your life that will help you transition smoother than being able to have a better life because most guys get caught up in being in that same lifestyle & spending money, having fun that’s kind of what happens as far as guys going broke..but I’ll definitely say between if you got the right mentors, the right friends that don’t get money from you that’s very important. I’ll say the top five people that you associated with on the daily basis with family or friends, having the right mentor these people don’t need anything from you that will help a lot of these players transition well with life after football.
If you want to know more about Phillip Buchanon and his new business ventures, make sure that you follow him on social media at @PhillipBuchanon and get his children books & his latest book New Money: Staying Rich available now on Amazon.
-Matia (@ms_hip_hop)
