With athletes making extravagant amounts of money, spending their earnings to give back to their parents becomes a common occurrence.
Earlier this month, Colorado football star Travis Hunter used his NIL earnings to buy his mother her dream home in Savannah, Georgia. Hunter posted a video on his YouTube channel, showing his mother’s reaction as she was gifted a five-bedroom 2.5 bathroom home.
The 20-year-old also bought his fiancé a car and presented her with a diamond engagement ring that the couple shared online last month.
Before Hunter gave back to his mother, several athletes shared their abundance with their loved ones in more ways than one.
Here, DailyMail.com recounts how stars in different sports generously spent their earnings for their families.
Travis Kelce buys $1million Super Bowl suite in Vegas
While plenty wished to be at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas in February, Travis Kelce’s $1million suite was the place to be in the venue.
As the Kansas City Chiefs took on the San Francisco 49ers for the coveted Lombardi trophy, the tight end spent seven figures to make sure his family and girlfriend, Taylor Swift, had the best seats in the house.
Sources told TMZ that Kelce paid for the pricey suite at Allegiant Stadium. When Super Bowl Sunday rolled around, his mom Donna, dad Ed, brother Jason, sister-in-law Kylie, Swift, and several A-listers enjoyed the fruits of his labor as he and the Chiefs secured their third title in five years.
‘I’m not really doing much different other than just counting how much money I’m spending on this damn Super Bowl for family and friends to come,’ Kelce said on the New Heights podcast ahead of the game. ‘Just making sure I’m on top of those finances and losing all this money.’
Celebrities such as Blake Lively, Ice Spice, Lana Del Rey, Quavo, Paul McCarthy, and Miles Teller all graced the star-filled suite as the Chiefs and 49ers played a dramatic game that’s destined for the storybooks.
Shaquille O’Neal buys his mother Louis Vuitton purses
Fans can thank Shaquille O’Neal’s mother, Lucille, for his dominance on the court.
Dr. Shaq won four NBA titles and three finals MVPs over his Hall-of-Fame career. But despite winning all of the hardware and making roughly $292m in salary alone, O’Neal stated that his goal was to give back to his mother.
The NBA legend previously shared how his mother not being the biggest fan of designer accessories did not stop him from buying her not one but two Louis Vuitton purses on her birthday.
‘It was my mom’s birthday, and she don’t even like Louis purses,’ O’Neal told Patrick Bet-David in 2022. ‘I say ‘Come, let’s take a ride.’ And you know the bag [cost] two thousand. ‘No baby, don’t buy that.’ ‘Get two of them, Mom.’ That right there is what being wealthy and successful is to me.’
‘My sole dream was to be able to buy my mother anything she wants,’ O’Neal added. ‘Even to this day, that’s why I work hard. When I’m on that court, you can’t outplay me because if you are, you’re taking my mother’s house away. And I can’t have that. So I will damn near kill you before I let you take my mother’s house away.’
O’Neal, whose net worth is estimated to be around $500m has also bought his mother a house as he continues to fulfill his goal to pay her back for raising him.
Georges St-Pierre wipes away his parents’ debt
Widely considered the GOAT of MMA, Georges St-Pierre came a long way from his humble beginnings on the outskirts of Quebec.
With a professional MMA record of 14-2, GSP won UFC interim gold in 2007 before knocking Matt Serra out for the undisputed welterweight title the following year.
St-Pierre inevitably started making more money as the face of Canadian MMA and one of the UFC’s biggest stars. Rather than spending money on himself, the former two-division champion cleared his parents’ debt with his first big paycheck.
‘The first thing I did was clear all my parents’ debt,’ St-Pierre told GQ in 2022. ‘My parents are the ones to support me since the beginning. They took care of me as a baby, so that was the first thing I did.’
St-Pierre added that hearing his mother crying on the phone while his father refused to take his financial assistance was ‘one of the best days of my life.’ He spent $50,000 to wipe his parents’ dues before buying them new vehicles.
‘They didn’t really want to have something from me, but I forced them,’ St-Pierre said. ‘Their car was broke [broken] all the time, so I bought them a new car.’ I wanted them to have a luxury car, but they really didn’t want it.’
The Canadian became a two-time UFC Welterweight Champion and won the middleweight crown from Michael Bisping in 2017 before leaving the sport with a 26-2 record. St-Pierre was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2020.
JJ Watt fulfills a life-long dream for his mom, Connie
When JJ Watt signed a six-year, $100m extension with the Houston Texans in 2014, he fulfilled a life-long dream for his mother, Connie.
In an interview with ESPN, the three-time defensive player of the year said: ‘Growing up, on TV I saw all the commercials with cars with red bows on them at Christmas time.’
‘I always thought to myself, ‘Who can do that? Who can just buy a whole car for somebody’s birthday or for Christmas and put a bow on it and drive it? Could you imagine if you could do that for somebody how awesome that would be?’
After cashing in on his big contract, Watt gifted Connie an SUV for her birthday – red bow included. Watt also posted pictures of Connie in front of the vehicle and shared his gratitude on social media.
‘My whole life my parents have made sacrifices for me,’ he wrote. ‘They’ve done everything. They’ve made it so my brothers have had opportunities for success.’
‘To be able to give back to her and to surprise her like that, and to see my brother got me a nice video of her when she first saw it, there’s really no better feeling in the world than that to be able to take care of your family, take care of those closest to you. There’s no better way to spend my money than that.’
After leaving the Texans in 2020, Watt spent one season with the Arizona Cardinals before leaving the NFL.
Amari Cooper buys mother’s dream house and car
It’s not every day that you get to buy your mother her dream house or car. But in 2017, then-Oakland Raiders wide receiver receiver Amari Cooper did both at once.
Cooper first showed his prowess at the University of Alabama. Two years after entering the professional ranks, Cooper proved worthy of big contracts and signed a four-year, $22.6m deal with the Raiders. The deal also included a $14.7m signing bonus.
Two years after getting drafted into the NFL, Cooper gifted his mother the house and car that she deserves.
‘I grew up in the projects, we didn’t even own a car,’ he wrote on Instagram. ‘The whole story is way too long and melancholic, but just know a dream can go a long way if it’s followed by faith and hard work.’
‘It took us 20 [plus] years but now my mother has the house and car of her dreams. You deserve it, mama, I love you. #JustTheBeginning’
