Michael Joseph Alstott, nicknamed “A-Train,” is a former NFL fullback who played 11 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Alstott was selected in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft and earned a number of accolades over the course of his career.
He is widely regarded as one of the greatest NFL fullbacks of all time.
What is Mike Alstott’s net worth?
Since retirement, Mike Alstott’s earnings are not public. However, it is estimated he is worth approximately $40 million today. Let dig down and see how he made all of his money.
Background
Mike Alstott was born on December 21, 1973 in Joliet, Illinois.
Alstott’s father Dennis was the athletic director of the Plainfield Junior Cats, a youth football league in the area, and introduced him to football at a young age. By age seven, Alstott began playing.
Education
Alstott attended a private Catholic high school, Joliet Catholic Academy, and played football his freshman and sophomore year. After the sophomore season, he was promoted to the varsity squad due to his on-field dominance.
Alstott’s junior year would become a historic one for Joliet Catholic, as they posted an undefeated season and won the Class 4A State Title. Alstott personally racked up over 1,000 rushing yards that season.
By the start of his senior season, Alstott stood a towering 6’1” and weighed a whopping 210 pounds. He amassed 2,051 yards on 271 carries and scored 29 touchdowns, attracting the attention of various Big Ten schools.
College Career
Alstott would go on to attend Purdue University for four years. Although he didn’t see much action in his freshman year, his sophomore season gave him a chance to take the field as a Boilermaker, posting 816 rushing yards, 407 receiving yards, and about a dozen touchdowns, two of which were receiving.
Those stats only improved in his third season at Purdue, putting up 1,188 rushing yards, 14 rushing touchdowns, and 298 receiving yards. Alstott’s final year as a Boilermaker was exceptional as well, as he ran for 1,436 yards and scored 11 touchdowns. No one in school history had ever run for more yards in a single season.
Alstott set two career school records during his time at Purdue, finishing his college career with a total of 3,635 yards and 39 touchdowns.
NFL Career
Alstott was drafted in the second round, the 35th overall pick, in the 1996 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Although he played running back at Purdue, Bucs Head Coach Tony Dungy wanted to utilize Alstott as a blocking fullback due to his size and stature.
However, Alstott’s rookie season saw him post 377 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns, 557 receiving yards, and 3 receiving touchdowns. Due to his size, defenders had a heck of a time tackling him.
A historical wimp, the Bucs began to turn things around that following year in 1997 when Florida State’s star running back, Warrick Dunn, was drafted to add more speed to the offensive backfield.
The combo of Alstott and Dunn was pure magic. Alstott would charge in full speed and knock away the defense while Dunn trailed behind before busting loose and beelining to the end zone. This dynamic duo helped land the Bucs in the playoffs, the first time since 1982, but they lost in the second bout and ended their season there.
The performance was enough to send Alstott to his first Pro Bowl, however, and he was named to the First-Team All-Pro Squad.
The legendary performance also did not go unnoticed by Buc’s General Manager Rich McKay, who signed Alstott for a five-year contract extension in 1998 worth $32 million. The deal also included a $4 million signing bonus and $8 in roster bonuses, making Alstott the highest-paid NFL fullback that year.
Alstott went on to post impressive performances between 1998 and 2001 and going to the Pro Bowl every year for a total of five appearances between 1996 and 2001.
In 2002, Rich McKay decided to make some changes, starting by firing Tony Dungy and picking up former Oakland Raiders’ Coach Jon Gruden instead. 2002 also saw the departure of Warrick Dunn, who was traded to Atlanta. Tampa Bay would pick up Michael Pittman instead to work alongside Alstott.
The combination resulted in Tampa Bay finishing first in the NFC South division with 12 wins, but that’s not all. They would also endure the playoffs, defeat the Eagles in the NFC Championship game, and, for the first time in the franchise’s history, play in the Super Bowl.
Ironically, Tampa Bay was set to play against Coach Gruden’s former team, the Oakland Raiders, who were the four point favorite heading into the matchup. However, the game would quickly devolve from a clash of the titans to a total besmirching at the hands of the colossus Mike Alstott.
The game featured a few field goals until Alstott broke the ice with a two-yard touchdown. At that time, the score was 13-3 in favor of Tampa Bay. What happened over the next half was brutal, to say the least, and the game culminated in a blowout win 48-21.
At this point in Alstott’s career, he had played in the Pro Bowl six consecutive times and won a Super Bowl. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.
Alstott began experiencing problems with his neck in the 2003 season, which would require a career threatening surgery. He also began experiencing knee problems which severely impacted his ability to participate in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
In 2005, Bucs management took this into consideration while working to reduce payroll salary expenditures. Alstott’s contract was restructured at this time, diminishing what he was expected to make.
In 2006, Alstott would sign a one-year deal with the Bucs again in 2006 for the total of between $1.5 and $2 million.
Although Alstott performed adequately in 2005 and 2006, another neck injury landed him on the IR for the entirety of the 2007 season. By January 2008, Alstott made the difficult decision to officially retire from the NFL.
In 11 years as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Alstott amassed 5,088 rushing yards, 58 rushing touchdowns, 2,284 receiving yards, and 13 receiving touchdowns. These numbers establish him as one of the greatest NFL fullbacks of all time.
How much did Alstott make throughout his career?
Alstott reportedly made a couple hundred thousand in his first few years in the NFL but signed a five-year contract extension in 1998 in the amount of $32 million. From 2003 on, Alstott averaged $2 million per year, making his approximate earnings in the area of $40 million.
What is Mike Alstott doing now?
Following his NFL career, Alstott began developing and purchasing a number of residential and commercial properties.
He continued dabbling in property management over the years before eventually selling off a large portion of his assets, retaining a select few including a strip center in Pinellas.
Alstott also retains partial ownership of Clearwater’s Island Way Grill, in which he serves as an investor and co-founder.
Alstott has not left the world of football behind completely, however. Today, he acts as the Head Coach for Northside Christian, a private school in Pinellas County, Florida. He has acted as their coach for 11 seasons and counting.
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.