LOOK: Chargers first-round pick Quentin Johnston tells mother to retire after being selected 21st overall

The first round of the NFL Draft can be many things to many people, but for top college players and their families, it can mean the start of life-changing, generational wealth. That was certainly the case for TCU wide receiver Quentin Johnston. His immediate thoughts after getting off the phone with the Los Angeles Chargers following their move to select him 21st overall in the 2023 NFL Draft was to release the internal emotions and then make a big announcement: his mother can retire, effective immediately. 

“You can get prepared for a moment so much, but you’ve never been there,” Johnston said of the feeling of being a first round pick, via NFL Films. “Once you’re there, it’s a completely different feeling. I wasn’t expecting to have the emotions that I had but it was a great feeling. I just want to give a big shoutout to my mom, she’s going to be putting her two weeks notice in today. She can retire. I don’t want you working another day!”

Last season’s 21st overall draft pick, Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie, signed a four-year, $13.2 million, fully-guaranteed rookie contract. With the 2023 salary cap of $224.8 million being a $16.6 million increase from the $208.2 million it was set at in 2022, Johnston will likely receive a slightly bigger rookie deal than McDuffie, putting him in a position to allow his mother to retire from her day job. Parents, in many cases, can be a person’s biggest support system, so for Johnston, being able to literally repay his parents’ decades of support is a heartwarming, dream-come-true.