Athletes are the modern day gladiators, the center of entertainment around the world, and you can expect them to make some pretty decent money with such fame. While a lot of people go out and spend their first big pay on expensive cars and houses, there are also a lot of athletes that still drive the same old cars or beaters, that they drove before the fame and wealth.

A beater, for anyone that does not know, is a car that may not be nice or expensive, fancy, fast, or even start on the first crank, but still works and gets from point A to point B, which is what it is technically for.

Now, of course, not all of these athletes that are driving beaters are pulling down the big bucks yet, but surely they could afford something a lot nicer. A lot of the athletes that we are looking at here seem to say that it is just a lot nicer not having a car note, which is understandable with car prices today.

On the other end of the spectrum, we are also looking at some athletes that do like to splurge on toys like fancy cars, and as one would assume, most of the ones rocking the supercars are the bigger names in sports that have a little more fame and money. There are some pretty unexpected names when it comes to who still has a beater car, not that there is anything wrong with that. And they can be fixed up and fixing an old car is way cheaper than buying a new one today. If it isn't broken, then there is no need to fix it, although it is really nice when that thing that isn't broken is a McLaren instead of a Camry!

19 Priceless - Reggie Bush (Retired Buffalo Bills) '67 Mustang GT500 "Eleanor"

via prweb.com

Reggie Bush made a huge name for himself in the NFL before retiring with the Buffalo Bills. He made a pretty good bit of money during his time as a professional athlete, which we can see by his 1967 Ford Mustang GT500, more commonly known as Eleanor.

This is one of the rarest and sought after models of the Mustang ever produced and can easily run for a six-figure price.

18 Beater - Mitchell Trubisky (Chicago Bears) '97 Toyota Camry

via t3atlanta.com

Mitchell Trubisky is a quarterback for the Chicago Bears and he still proudly drives his 1997 Toyota Camry, which actually looks like it is in pretty nice condition for its age. Now, this is without a doubt a beater, albeit a nice one. But the older model Camry is known to just run forever, and Mitchell is proving that.

There is no doubt that he could afford a nicer new car, but the Camry seems to be getting the job done.

17 Priceless - Ezekiel Elliot (Dallas Cowboys) Bentley Continental

via twitter.com

Ezekiel Elliot plays in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys, and we can see he is part of the younger crowd of athletes that enjoy the finer things in life.

He drives a Bentley Continental, which just has a natural aspect of class and wealth to it. Ezekiel looks like he is pretty proud of his car, and we can see why with how clean that Continental looks sitting in that driveway.

16 Beater - Ryan Kerrigan (Washington Redskins) Chevy Tahoe

via youtube.com

Ryan Kerrigan is a linebacker for the Washington Redskins and his beater of choice is a mid-2000s Chevrolet Tahoe. Now, the Tahoe may not usually be considered a beater, but when it is compared to the supercars that other athletes are driving, it seems like a bit of a letdown in contrast.

Now the Tahoe does look like something a star athlete would be driving just because it is a big vehicle and one of the nicer models available from Chevy.

15 Priceless - Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) Bugatti Veyron

via sports.yahoo.com

Drew Brees is one of the most famous quarterbacks in the NFL and plays for the New Orleans Saints. He has made quite a good chunk of change in his career, and he has some pretty expensive toys to prove it.

For instance, he has a Bugatti Veyron, which is still one of the most expensive cars on the market. While there is nothing practical about the Veyron, it still must be nice to own one of the fastest cars in the world.

14 Beater - Brandon Jennings (Milwaukee Bucks) Ford Edge

via savageonwheels.com

Brandon Jennings is a basketball player that played for the Milwaukee Bucks. There is a pretty common trend with NBA players driving pretty fancy cars, but Brandon has a different outlook.

He drives a Ford Edge which is pretty nice for gas mileage but that is about it. The Edge is not fast or even that cool looking, but for Brandon, it gets the job done, although, for all intents and purposes, it is still a beater, proving that age does not define a beater.\

13 Priceless - Kobe Bryant (Retired Los Angeles Lakers) Ferrari 458

via driversmagazine.com

Kobe Bryant made an absolute splash when he came into the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers, and he is still huge after his retirement with his features in commercials and his YouTube channel.

Kobe has also amassed a small fortune for himself and has bought some pretty nice cars. One of his nicest cars is his cherry red Ferrari 458. The 458 is one of the most notorious Ferrari models out there and definitely fit for a superstar like Kobe.

12 Beater - Giovanni Bernard (Cincinnati Bears) Honda Odyssey

via wikipedia.org

Giovanni Bernard is a running back for the Cincinnati Bears. He drives a Honda Odyssey which may be among the most beater out of all of our beaters today, just due to it being a slow minivan.

Now there is nothing wrong with the Honda Odyssey, and it actually gets pretty great reviews. But this is just not a vehicle that someone would think of a professional football player driving as a daily driver, or even owning unless they had a big family.

11 Priceless - Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat) McLaren MP4-12C

via deskgram.net

Wade is a professional basketball player who plays for the Miami Heat. Florida is known for flashy cars and rich people, so obviously, someone who plays for Miami has to have a flashy supercar.

And there is nothing more flashy than a neon green McLaren MP4-12C. His McLaren was the center of his social media when he first got it, as it deserves to be as one of the most sought after supercars.

10 Beater - LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) Kia K900

via espcweb.org

Lebron James is one of the most famous basketball players of all time, and he currently plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. He has been featured in a lot of Kia commercials, so of course, he has to own one.

He has a customized Kia K900 which is one of the nicest models they have today, but when it is compared to his supercars it still looks like your average beater car, but it is a nice one for sure.

9 Priceless - LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) Ferrari F430

via bhpcars.com

Lebron James is known far and wide with his NBA career to his shoe and clothing line. He has been a meme, and anyone on social media has heard the name LeBron James. Of course, with that kind of fame comes wealth and with wealth comes fancy cars.

He has multiple cars like the Kia K900 mentioned earlier, but one of his nicest is his Ferrari F430 on custom rims. The F430 may be a bit of an older model but it can sure hang with the big boys today with all that power and its ferocious design.

8 Beater - Alfred Morris (San Francisco 49ers) Mazda 626

via cnbc.com

Alfred Morris is a running back for the San Francisco 49ers and has been getting a lot of attention for his beater Mazda. He drives a Mazda 626 and while it looks like he has kept it in pretty nice condition, it is still a '90s model Mazda which is pretty much just about as beater status as it can get.

He claims that it is nice to not worry about a car note, even though he could probably buy a nicer car outright.

7 Priceless - Odell Beckham Jr. (New York Giants) Rolls Royce Wraith

via motor1.com

Odell Beckham Jr. has become a huge hit ever since coming onto the scene in the NFL with the New York Giants with his great play style and social media influence. He also drives a Rolls Royce, and we can tell from the picture that he looks really proud of it.

The Wraith is one of the most modern and sleek looking models Rolls Royce has to offer, and it is perfectly fitting for such a superstar athlete to be driving.

6 Beater - Kirk Cousins (Minnesota Vikings) GMC Savana

via twitter.com

Kirk Cousins is a quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings and he still drives a '90s GMC Savana van. While it is obvious from the picture that he takes care of the van, there is something about a GMC Savana that just screams beater.

He has received a lot of attention for his choice in vehicles, and at this point, he is most likely just keeping it because of the attention it gets. That and the lack of a car note is appealing no matter how much someone makes.

5 Priceless - Antonio Brown (Pittsburg Steelers) Rolls Royce Phantom

via youtube.com

Antonio Brown is a football player that plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he has a custom Pittsburgh Rolls Royce. It has a matte black base with Steeler' yellow stripes down the middle, and it is pretty cool that he even reps his team with his cars.

Rolls Royce is another pretty common choice among athletes, but none are as nice and show as much team spirit as Antonio's Rolls Royce.

4 Beater - Antonio Garay (Retired Cleveland Browns) Smart Car

via deadspin.com

Antonio Garay is a retired football player that played for the Cleveland Browns. He is over 6 feet tall and from the picture above, you can see he drives a Smart Car. He got it as a joke at first due to his height, but as we can see it looks like he fits in just fine, at least with the roof down, in such a small car.

He still has and drives it as well. Now the Smart car is known for great mileage but it is still considered a beater.

3 Priceless - Tom Brady (New England Patriots) Rolls Royce Wraith

via zimbio.com

Tom Brady is one of the most famous football players in the world and continues to have a very successful career as the quarterback for the New England Patriots. He has a family now and so a supercar may not be realistic, but a nice Rolls Royce is not a bad downgrade at all.

He drives a Rolls Royce Wraith, solid black with the chrome rims. He is known for being a pretty classy guy, so of course, he drives a pretty classy car.

2  Beater - Blake Griffin (Detroit Pistons) GMC Denali

via hudiburgautogroup.blogspot.com

Blake Griffin is another one of those big names in the NBA and plays for the Detroit Pistons, and he is even known by people who know nothing about sports, due to his commercial appearances.

He, like the other NBA stars listed before, drives a beater. He owns a GMC Denali which is by far one of the nicest vehicles that GMC produces, but it still falls under the category of a beater purely due to its cheap price tag and the fact that it is a pretty average vehicle.

1  Priceless - Marcell Dareus (Jacksonville Jaguars) Ferrari F430

via dubmagazine.com

Marcell Dareus plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars and has made some waves in the NFL. Marcell drives a pretty highly customized Ferrari F430, which seems to be a pretty common model choice among athletes.

The F430 is a bit of an older model but it still looks just as beautiful as the new models do. His Ferrari also has gold rims, and yet somehow they work on that car with that deep red color.

Sources - espn, complex, & deadspin