Talanoa Hufanga has to be somewhat frugal with his money as a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Before blossoming as a second-year safety with the 49ers, Hufanga lived a rural life in his hometown of Corvallis, Ore. only to then play football in college at USC.
Hufanga joined former 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman on the latest episode of the "Richard Sherman Podcast," where he was asked about his first big purchase in the NFL, which actually took place before he was chosen 180th overall in the 2021 draft.
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SIGN UP HERE "First off, I'm a very frugal person ... It was funny because I'm from a farm, like I grew up on the lake, on the water, I grew up on the mountains, snowboarding," Hufanga said. "So I'm in LA at the time right before I get drafted and I knew I'm about to (get some money)."
And what did Hufanga splurge on? Well, certainly nothing fancy or even operational.
"I'm driving in South Central (Los Angeles) in the hood and I see this tire shop and I'm like, 'Is that a broken jet ski?' And I've always wanted a jet ski my whole life, so I went into this tire shop and it was this rundown place and it was broken, like bad," Hufanga explained. "And I'm like, 'I want this jet ski,' and he's like, 'Why would you want to buy something that's broken?' Because my best friend is a mechanic and he's going to fix it for free.
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"So I ended up buying a broken jet ski for $400, put a $100 battery in it and it worked just as good. So my first purchase was a broken jet ski."
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Why spend thousands on a brand-new jet ski when you can buy one that's broken for a fraction of the cost and immediately get it up and running? Now that's just a great return on investment right there.
Hufanga told Sherman that he still has the jet ski to this day and instead of flipping it for profit, the 22-year-old is going to squeeze every last ounce of use out of it.
Safely, the 49ers should hope. And preferably in the offseason.