There is no NFL job as a waterboy. These employees are generally equipment staff that are assigned to give out water for a few hours during the game.
These employees are paid very differently depending on if they are full-time or part-time. According to zip recruiter, equipment staff make roughly sixty thousand dollars per year when working full time.
When working part-time team equipment staff are usually going to make around $100 per game.
Referring to these wages as a waterboy salary isn’t very accurate because they do a lot more than provide water for the football players.
What do “waterboys” on an NFL team
When watching football on Sundays you’ve likely noticed the team staff that refills bottles and gives them out to players.
In reality, these waterboys are members of the equipment staff and do a lot more around the stadium.
One of the main jobs of “waterboys” on an NFL team is to get the player’s equipment organized.
When an away team shows up with a truckload of equipment several members of the home team’s staff will help with unloading. The equipment needs to be brought from the truck into the player’s stalls so it is ready for the game.
This staff is also responsible for getting a lot of the equipment on the sideline setup. Things like putting out the stationary bikes so players can stay warm on the sidelines.
These equipment staffers will also set up all the Gatorade and water tables prior to the start of the game.
In the pre-game, the equipment staff will often get to help out with kicker and punter warmups. This entails fetching balls for these players as well as catching and holding for their kicks.
During the game itself is when equipment staff become waterboys. If assigned to this duty the employees must make sure all water cups are full on the sideline so players can stay hydrated.
They also make sure that the players have clean towels they can use during the game.
Once the game concludes these staffers are on clean-up duty. They must clean up all the equipment off the sidelines and locker rooms.
This means dirty towels, garbage and uniforms. The away team’s equipment is then loaded back into the truck to be taken back to their home stadium.
All in all, waterboys have a lot more work to do than just giving players water.
How much do NFL cheerleaders make?
Now that you know how much the equipment staff makes in football you may be wondering how much cheerleaders make.
Since there are so many cheerleaders that are willing to do the job these employees are not paid very well.
Additionally, NFL cheerleaders are not as big an attraction as many fans believe. During an NFL game, you are only going to see the cheerleaders on your screen for a few seconds on average.
At the end of the day this means they are not providing much value to NFL teams.
For this reason, NFL cheerleaders are only paid roughly $100-$200 per game. Since cheerleaders only perform at home games this means they are only getting paid for eight or nine home games a year.
These cheerleaders are also paid for their time spent practising and training for their routines though this does not amount to very much.
