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Why an NFL player who earns millions still drives a 26-year-old car he bought for $2

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Dallas Cowboys running back Alfred Morris drives a $2 car
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Dallas Cowboys running back Alfred Morris drives a $2 car

Last year, Dallas Cowboys running back Alfred Morris signed a two-year contract worth $5.5 million. In addition to a $1 million signing bonus, Morris will earn a fully guaranteed base salary of $1.2 million this season and is eligible for up to $1 million more if he leads the league in rushing and runs for 1,500 yards.

But Morris's spending habits don't reflect his paycheck. Case in point: He still drives a 26-year-old Mazda 626 sedan from 1991 that he bought for $2.

Morris purchased the vehicle, affectionately known as "Bentley," from his pastor for just a couple bucks during his junior year at Florida Atlantic University. It garnered national attention in 2012 when he was drafted to the Washington Redskins and took Bentley with him.

Running back Alfred Morris #46 of the Dallas Cowboys celebrates after scoring a fourth quarter touchdown against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on September 18, 2016 in Landover, Maryland.
Rob Carr | Getty Images

"It just keeps me grounded, where I came from and all the hard work for me to get to this point," said Morris in 2012 on the Redskins' website.

Bentley did get bit of a makeover to help it continue shuttling Morris to and from practice. In 2013, Mazda offered to refurbish the car for Morris, and he readily accepted. The company gutted the sedan, stripping it down to its skeleton and installing a new engine, new interiors and a GPS.

After making the move to Dallas in 2016 and signing an even more lucrative contract, Morris held on to Bentley. "It's always going to be my baby and I'm going to drive it 'til she dies," he told the Cowboys' blog 5 Points Blue.

"Hard work and humility are Morris' family values," 5 Points Blue explains. "Driving the old car is a way of reminding himself to stay humble."

This NFL starting quarterback drives a dented van he bought from his grandma for $5,000
VIDEO0:5200:52
This NFL starting quarterback drives a dented van he bought from his grandma for $5,000

Morris isn't the only wealthy athlete to live like he's broke.

Despite earning nearly $20 million last year, Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins chooses to live in his parents' basement with his wife during the summer and drive a dented GMC Savana passenger van that he bought from his grandma for $5,000.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, one of the highest-paid athletes in the NFL, still uses a flip phone, and free agent Ryan Broyles chooses to live on a modest $60,000 a year.

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