What Is Rodney Peete's Net Worth and Salary?
Rodney Peete is a former American football quarterback who has a net worth of $4 million. That is a combined net worth with his wife since 1995, actress Holly Robinson Peete. Rodney Peete has earned his net worth from his career in the National Football League, which lasted from 1989 to 2004. Before his professional football career, Rodney played for Sahuaro High School in Tucson, Arizona, Shawnee Mission South High School in Overland Park, Kansas, and the University of Southern California. Peete was the first player ever from USC to win the Johnny Unitas Award, which is given to the best upperclassman quarterback in the country. In the NFL, he played for the Detroit Lions (1989–1993), Dallas Cowboys (1994), Philadelphia Eagles (1995–1998), Washington Redskins (1999), Oakland Raiders (2000–2001), and Carolina Panthers (2002–2004).
Since his retirement in 2004, Rodney has co-hosted Fox Sports Net's "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" and the KLAC radio program "Roggin and Rodney." He co-hosted the Hallmark Kitten Bowl in 2019, and he starred in and executive produced the reality television series "For Peete's Sake" (2016–2017) and "Meet the Peetes" (2018–2019). Rodney guest-starred as himself on the TV shows "Half & Half" (2006) and "Ballers" (2016) and appeared in the 2022 film "Motorvation." In 2010, Peete published the book "Not My Boy!: A Father, A Son, and One Family's Journey with Autism." He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
Early Life
Rodney Peete was born on March 16, 1966, in Mesa, Arizona. His father, Willie, was a running backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears and an offensive backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers. Rodney's brother Skip is also an NFL coach. Peete attended Tucson's Sahuaro High School, where he lettered in football, baseball, and basketball. As a high school football player, Peete was chosen as an Academic All-American and named Arizona High School Player of the Year. He also helped the school's baseball and basketball teams win state championships. After Rodney's junior year, his father was hired to be an assistant coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, so the family moved to Kansas, where Peete attended Overland Park's Shawnee Mission South High School. Rodney earned Prep All-American honors that season. He was the 722nd pick (chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1984 Major League Baseball Draft, but he chose to forego a baseball career to attend college.
College Career
Rodney earned a football scholarship to the University of Southern California, and he began his freshman season as a backup quarterback. He replaced starting quarterback Sean Salisbury during the ninth game of the season, and he ended the season with a record of 2-2, five passing touchdowns, and one rushing touchdown. During his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons, he started every game. Peete scored 10 passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns during his sophomore season, 21 passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns during his junior season, and 18 passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns during his senior season. As a junior, Rodney set a USC record with five touchdown passes. As a senior, he came in second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, and at the end of his college career, he was USC's all-time leader in passing yards (8,225), pass attempts (1,081), total offense (8,640), starts (40), and completions (630). Peete also played baseball in college and earned All-Pac-10 honors. During his college baseball career, he batted .297 and scored 18 home runs. He was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 1988 and 1989 MLB drafts and the Detroit Tigers in the 1990 MLB draft, but he decided to devote his life to football instead.
Professional Career
Rodney was the 141st overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft, selected in the sixth round by the Detroit Lions. He sprained his knee during the team's final preseason game and had to sit out the first three games of his rookie season. Peete was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which he scored a passing touchdown and rushing touchdown. During the 1990 season, he scored 13 passing touchdowns and six rushing touchdowns and was ranked #5 in the NFC. Rodney pulled his hamstring during a Week 4 game against the Green Bay Packers and a Week 8 game against the Washington Redskins and had to miss a few games. When he returned in Week 14, he threw four touchdowns, a career high. Peete started the first eight games of the 1991 season, then he suffered an Achilles tendon injury and couldn't play for the rest of the season. During the 1992 season, he scored nine passing touchdowns and started 10 games. The following season, he had a career high completion percentage of 62.3%. In May 1994, Rodney signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent. He sprained his thumb during a Week 11 game against the Washington Redskins.
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Peete signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent in April 1995, and during his first season with the team, he started 12 games and scored eight touchdowns. He re-signed with the team in March 1996, and during that season he tore his patella tendon. The Eagles traded Rodney to the Washington Redskins in April 1999, and he subsequently became the first-ever NFL quarterback to throw a regular season pass for three teams in the NFC East. Peete signed with the Oakland Raiders in July 2000 and was given the position of third-string quarterback. He didn't play in any game that season, but the Raiders re-signed him in September 2001, a few weeks after initially releasing him. Rodney played in one game that season, then he signed with the Carolina Panthers as a free agent in March 2002 and was named the team's starter. He scored a career high of 15 touchdowns that season. The team made it to Super Bowl XXXVIII, which took place in February 2004, and they lost to the New England Patriots 32–29. Peete was released from the Panthers in February 2005 for "salary cap reasons," and he decided to retire from the NFL. During his NFL career, Rodney scored 76 passing touchdowns and had a passer rating of 73.3.
Personal Life
Rodney proposed to actress Holly Robinson Peete on the set of her show "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" in 1994, and they married on June 10, 1995. Holly is the daughter of Matt Robison, who was the first actor to play Gordon Robinson on "Sesame Street." When Matt was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, Rodney and Holly established the HollyRod Foundation, which is "dedicated to providing compassionate care to those living with autism and Parkinson's disease." The couple has four children, Ryan, Rodney Jr., Robinson, and Roman, and Rodney Jr. was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 years old.
Awards and Achievements
Peete was selected to the Second-team All-Pac-10 in 1986 and the First-team All-Pac-10 and First-team All-American in 1988. That year he was named Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year, and he received the Pop Warner Trophy and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. Rodney was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009, and in 2014, he was honored with the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, which "recognizes distinguished individuals on the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of their college athletics careers."
Real Estate
In September 2003, Rodney and Holly paid $1.31 million for a 7,234 square foot home in Los Angeles. In 2009, they put the six-bedroom, 5.5-bedroom home on the market for $4.25 million. The property includes a pool and a spa.
