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There is an old maxim that suggests a man should spend three months’ salary on an engagement ring, an item that serves zero practical purpose outside of pure vanity. If you think spending 25% of your yearly income on a ring you couldn’t distinguish from one you can cop at a mall kiosk is outrageous, there are plenty of American dudes who are right there with you.
According to the New York Times, the median American spends about 4 percent (or two weeks) of annual pretax income on an engagement ring. That’s more like it.
People like Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu are doing no favors for our gender by feeding this antiquated notion that your love is only vindicated if you wrap a 4-bedroom home around her finger.
The Honey Badger recently proposed to longtime girlfriend Sydni Paige Russell, the step daughter of former Jets head coach Todd Bowles who Mathieu has been with since his days at LSU. The 27-year-old Mathieu, who signed a three-year deal worth $42 million this offseason, commissioned famed Houston-based jewel ZoFrost to assemble a wildly ambitious engagement ring valued at $250,000.
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According to TMZ, the ring features a 6-carat emerald cut center stone with 3.35 carats on the band.
How anxious would you feel carrying around a quarter-of-a-million dollar object every day. I win $20 on a scratch ticket and I’m guarding that shit like the Pentagon. I would never burden my lady with that. Couldn’t do that to her. Kiosk in the mall it is!
P.S. Congrats to the happy couple.