Getty Image / Scott Winters / Icon Sportswire
Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Isaac Rochell has been in the NFL for 6 years after starting for 3 years at Notre Dame.
Isaac Rochell was drafted in the 7th round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Chargers. He has played with the Chargers, Colts, Raiders, and Browns.
Isaac has also grown a massive following on TikTok where he has over 1.5 million followers. One of his videos recently went viral where he discussed the taxes of being an NFL player.
Specifically, Isaac Rochell was asked about what work-related tax deductions are available to an NFL player. The way he tells it, there are non.
@isaacrochell Replying to @alabamaandtravis that wife tax really hits different frfr #wifetax #expensivewife
Isaac Rochell says “it actually kind of sucks” because being an NFL player is expensive. He mentions there are a lot of things they ‘have to buy as athletes’ that are not tax deductible.
Rochell says this is a recent change in tax law. It removed their tax deduction options “as entertainers.”
He then lists how they have to pay ‘agent fees, NFL PA dues, massage therapy, training, all that.” Claiming they used to be able to use these as tax deductions but now they’re unable to write off any of us.
NFL players are subject to the ‘jock tax’. Their weekly per-game earnings get taxed based on where they work. So if a game is in Florida they won’t be paying state income tax but if a game is in Los Angeles they are paying a LOT more in taxes and that changes every single week.
Under the video, comments came in from people in similar situations. One person commented “I can only claim $250 as a teacher.”
Another person wrote “I do not feel bad for people who make a lot paying taxes like we do otherwise, but this was informative.”
Someone else commented “I feel this. I do taxes and explaining this to my client since 2017 has been a nightmare. Everyone is mad, as they should be.”
Isaac Rochell appeared in 5 games for the Las Vegas Raiders this season and recorded 11 tackles. He has been in the league since 2017 and has earned just over $6,000,000 total according to spotrac.
Another video of Isaac Rochell’s went viral recently. He showed what a home gym looks like for an NFL player of his earnings level.
@isaacrochell Safe to say im built by @torquefitness #torquefitness #torque #athomegym #diygym #gym
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He said he often gets asked where NFL players workout in the off-season, now we know.