San Francisco 49ers players have revealed that the $332,000 bill they racked up at a restaurant which rookies had to pay was a prank, confirming that the new players did not have to pay the whopping amount.
It's tradition for rookies to pick up a dinner bill in the United States, with first year professionals left having to pay their dues, literally, in their rookie season.
But many had accused Niners veterans of taking that way too far recently, when multiple players shared images and videos of a $322,000 bill spent on Monday. Although rookie contracts have become more lucrative in recent years, they remain the lower paid guys on the roster.
Second-round draft pick pass-rusher Drake Jackson shared the image of the receipt, with a number of rookies looking on in disbelief of what they'd be forced to pay.
However, those who looked at the image closely could tell that the receipt was indeed a fake, with over $200,000 in gratuity.
After some declared the Niners vets actions as 'unacceptable', eight-year pro Arik Armstead responded: "Y’all silly if you thought a dinner can cost 300k. It was a prank. The waitress went overboard. The dinner was 7500 me and 2 other vets gave 1k towards it. The rooks split 4500."
"We had a great time too. I had good vets as a young player I would never do a rookie like that." The actual bill cost $7,500, with Armstead and two other vets spending $1000 each with the nine rookies splitting the $4,500 bill between them.
The Niners had every right to be celebrating, just a few days after they secured the NFC West with a win over the Seattle Seahawks. It was a dominating performance over the second place Hawks, as they secured the division title in the back yards of their fiercest division rivals, doing so with seventh round rookie Brock Purdy.
Purdy will now be the starter for the rest of the season after both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo suffered season-ending injuries, with many quick to rule the Niners out of Super Bowl contention.
But Purdy has come in and played as well as any rookie has in years, looking poised in head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense and limiting mistakes - along with their ferocious defence continuing to dominate.
The Niners have now assured that they'll play a home playoff game, and will look to challenge the Vikings for the number two seed - potentially meeting the Seahawks again in the post-season.
