From $0.02 to a $10 Million NFL Contract: MrBeast Works Jobs Up the Pay Scale
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In this video, MrBeast (Jimmy) and friends try a series of jobs ordered roughly from the lowest-paying to the highest-paying, to show what work looks like at each level. It starts with gold panning, which Jimmy says can make as little as $1 a year, and climbs through fossil excavation, astronaut training, flight training, and elite hand modeling. It ends with a two-day, $10 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Each stop is played mostly for laughs, but each also shows the skill gap between experienced professionals and the YouTubers attempting their jobs.
Gold Panning: The $1-a-Year Job
The first job is gold panning, which Jimmy calls the lowest-paying job he could find. Panners put dirt into a mechanism, and with enough shaking and water the gold settles to the bottom. Jimmy jokes that the group is going to "make millions," then adds, "Statistically, not."
After five hours of searching, someone in the group finds a small nugget, which turns out to be worth two cents. Jimmy treats this as proof of his point: you could pan for a whole year and earn only about a dollar.
Digging Up Dinosaur Bones: The $100,000 Job
Next is a $100,000-a-year job excavating dinosaur bones for a museum. The expert guiding them, Josh, has been at the site for 17 years. He says the thigh bone they're working on is the largest bone he has worked on in his career. It stands over four feet tall. For scale, the video compares the full dinosaur to six Karls stacked on top of each other, and Karl notes that he is six foot five.
The crew uses tools Jimmy describes as essentially mini jackhammers, and they admit they are "God awful" at the work. It takes them five hours to make any real progress, and Jimmy says they were mostly holding the expert back. Jimmy is surprised that Josh lets him and Karl handle the bone, and asks what happens if they damage it. Josh estimates the bone weighs around 200 to 250 pounds.
Because the bone is so ancient, it has to be wrapped in a cast before lifting, or it could break in half. The group lifts it successfully, and Jimmy claims they are the first humans ever to carry it. He says the bone did end up in a museum.
Astronaut Training With NASA: The $200,000 Job
The $200,000 job is astronaut training with NASA. The first task is driving a lunar rover, which the staff describe as the vehicle that will be used to get around on the Moon. It is steered with a stick: push forward to go, twist to turn. Jimmy struggles right away and drives sideways for a while before figuring out how to go straight. The staff say it is street legal "around here."
At NASA's lunar training yard, the course gets harder. Jimmy drives off-road over bumpy ground and is then told to go down a steep hill. When he asks about seat belts, he is told there is one, but they don't use it. He ends up going down the hill sideways and is also directed sideways through a crater. Afterward Jimmy tells his friend Lannan that Lannan wouldn't survive on the Moon. Lannan disagrees.
NASA then tours them through its facility, including what Jimmy calls the second-largest pool on Earth, and shows them a spacesuit. Jimmy jokes that trying on a spacesuit makes you an astronaut. The catch: astronauts are in the suit for 12 hours on a spacewalk, so they wear an actual adult diaper. The suit is described as a space artifact that has flown on the space shuttle several times and has been worn by real astronauts. The NASA staff member says they have not peed in the suit themselves.
The final stage is a visit to what is described as the largest collection of Moon rocks on display anywhere in the world. Jimmy asks to touch the Genesis Rock and is refused outright, even after offering his "expertise" from digging up dinosaur fossils the day before. He is allowed to touch lunar soil, though, and is told he is "actually touching the moon." The staff also show a sealed tube of lunar dirt that has not been opened since it came back. When Jimmy jokes that, in theory, there could be an alien inside, the staff member answers that it would be the first one from the Moon. The video plays this up as if aliens had been confirmed.
Learning to Fly a Plane
For the next job, Karl and Nolan try flight training, though neither has flown a plane before. The rule is that they must land successfully at least once in a flight simulator before flying a real plane. Nolan crashes the simulator repeatedly but eventually lands. The video says that was enough to get him the keys to an actual aircraft.
In the real plane, the instructor walks Nolan through it: full throttle, approaching 60, then pulling back gently to take off. The video stresses that Nolan is controlling the plane himself. Mid-flight, Nolan banks hard enough that the passengers feel they're sideways. Landing is the hardest part, partly because that's where Nolan always crashed in the simulator, and the instructor notes that landing is always a challenge for people. With steady coaching ("Keep it pointed right down the middle," "Keep your hand on the throttle," "Just breathe"), Nolan touches down safely.
Hand Modeling: The $1 Million Job
Jimmy says he was surprised that hand modeling pays $1 million a year, though only for the world's highest-paid hand models. The professional they work with reportedly earns five times a doctor's average salary, has modeled for almost any brand you've heard of, and has hands insured for $1,000,000 each.
She starts by examining everyone's hands. She says Karl's nails need work and compares how much hair is on Lazar's hands with Karl's. She thinks the skin texture of two of the others may be better. When she reaches Jimmy, she says his hands "glow" and that his finger structure is very good, but she still points out cuticle and skin issues that would need fixing. Preparing for the shoot is easy for Jimmy and Karl. Lazar has to have his hand hair removed, which he accepts as the price of a million-dollar job.
They then model watches for what is described as an actual magazine shoot, with photos meant for billboards across America. Jimmy admits he thought it would be easy, but they are "horrible" at it. One shot is compared to a watch on a snake. When the professional demonstrates, the difference is obvious: her hand doesn't shake as much, so the product looks better. Jimmy says that even though their photos weren't great, they still ended up on billboards nationwide.
The $10 Million Job: Signing With the Buccaneers
The last job is a $10 million-a-year contract as an NFL player, which Jimmy calls his dream. He signs a real contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for that amount, while openly acknowledging the fine print: the contract may say they won't actually pay it, but it does state that dollar amount. It runs for 48 hours, and the goal is for Jimmy to run onto the field with the team in front of 60,000 fans.
The first step is weight training. Staff push him through lifts with constant yelling, which Jimmy notices is apparently part of being an NFL player. He asks to set the weight to what the strongest player on the team uses and manages one rep, then learns that player can do 12. Asked how Jimmy's workout compares to the players' usual routine, a staff member calls it "pretty pathetic." Jimmy feels lightheaded and is told he'll get used to it.
At the Buccaneers' training facility, Jimmy meets the coach and teammates. One player, Shaq, says his kids love Jimmy's videos and mentions the candy bars and Karl Gummies. When teammates doubt Jimmy really signed, he shows them the contract. They point to the clause saying it ends unless canceled within 48 hours, and someone confirms they're still going to cancel it. The players dwarf Jimmy and his friends. Jimmy, who has never played football, is tried at kicker and is terrible at it. As quarterback, he just throws the ball as far as he can.
Since this is the team Tom Brady won the Super Bowl with, Jimmy arranges a surprise call with Brady. The real surprise is for Lannan, whom Jimmy expects to "literally die of happiness." Brady tells Lannan he loves him, and Lannan says he's dead. After that, practice turns into shenanigans.
The Press Conference and Game Day
To address questions about the two-day contract, the Bucs hold a press conference for Jimmy. Asked whether it's a publicity stunt, he first says he's there to make the best video possible, then admits it is a publicity stunt and that he is clearly not an NFL player. He says the team has accepted him more than he expected. Asked how much playing time he expects, he answers: none.
He is then measured at six foot four and a half, short of Karl's six five, so his gear and uniform can be custom-fitted. On game day, he signs his first football. Someone says Jimmy could play a snap if the team gets up by 100, and Jimmy jokingly asks them to "get up super hot." Someone else says it's his first game and "definitely his last."
Since it is the only NFL game he'll ever be part of, the team lets Jimmy lead them out of the tunnel, with his friends running alongside and trying not to get run over as the players pass them. Lannan calls it the best day of his life. Jimmy thanks the Buccaneers for making him an "official NFL player." He closes by saying it's probably a good thing he didn't get into the game, because if anyone had hit him, he probably would have died.
I am about to work this $10 million job as a professional athlete. And I'm going to show you the difference between this and getting paid $200,000 to be an astronaut. This is insane. Getting paid $100,000 to dig up real dinosaur bones. Oh, my God. And so many other jobs, starting with the lowest paying job I could find: gold panning, that can make as little as $1 a year.
But we're going to make millions. Statistically, not.
Basically, gold panners put dirt in this mechanism, and with enough shaking and water, all of the gold is filtered out to the bottom. But it's not very easy because after 5 hours of searching, I was definitely not rich.
Oh, boys. I found gold. How much is that little nugget worth? That is $0.02. Exactly my point. You could do this for a whole year and only make a dollar.
But luckily for us, we're going to be working jobs that pay over $10 million per year. But first, let's see what it looks like to work a job that pays $100,000 per year: digging up dinosaur bones for a museum. And yes, these are fake because they're all dead.
So this is just one of our pits. Are these actually dinosaur bones? They are. I've been here 17 years. This is easily the largest bone that I've ever worked on in my career. This is your thigh bone right here, and it's over four feet tall.
For comparison, here's that dinosaur next to six Karls stacked on top of each other. Keep in mind, I'm six five.
These are mini jackhammers, essentially. You're doing it. He has no idea what he's doing. No idea. Now, this may come as a surprise, but we are god-awful at this. Be careful. It took us 5 hours to make any progress whatsoever. But even with us holding him back, with the help of the expert, we were getting somewhere.
This is easily the largest bone that I've ever worked on in my career. And you let me and Karl touch that? Absolutely. What if we mess it up?
Josh, how much does this weigh? Probably going to be 200–250. Pounds? Yep.
Now, because this bone is so ancient, we have to cover it in a cast before we pick it up. Or else it could literally break in half. Let's hope it doesn't fall apart when we lift it.
One, two, three. Yes, lightweight, baby! Good job. This is the first time any humans have ever carried this bone. Just YouTubers carrying a dinosaur bone. Front of the table. One, two, lift. Watch your hand, Karl.
And believe it or not, this dinosaur bone did find its way into a museum. But because museums are boring, let's head over to the $200,000 job, astronaut training with NASA. And my first mission: learn to drive the official lunar rover.
This is what will one day be on the moon? Yeah. This is how we're going to get around the surface of the moon. Why are they letting me drive this? Open the doors.
How do I work this thing? Push forward on a stick. Right now? Yeah, go for it. Push forward. Jimmy, don't kill us. I'm scared. You good. Oh, this is amazing.
Go ahead and twist. To the right? To the right or left, I don't care. Oh, my God. They're cars. Is this street legal? Street legal around here. Oh, this is amazing. Why are we driving sideways? I haven't figured out how to straight it yet.
And even though I had no clue what I was doing, I still managed to get us to NASA's lunar training yard, where the real test is going to be.
Oh, we're off-roading. Oh, God. Oh, it's getting bumpy. You're going to let me drive it down this hill? Is there seat belts in this thing? There's a seat belt we don't use right there. They've got seat belts they don't use, that's helpful.
Oh, that's way too steep. No way. Are we really going down? Can I get that seat belt now? Oh, my God. Wait, we're going down the hill sideways. Stop it, stop the car. Lift your hand so they can see I'm driving. He's actually… I'll get up and let Nick— No, sit there.
Do I go sideways in the crater? Sure. Hold me, Karl. Hold me. Lannan, I'm just going to say it, you wouldn't survive on the moon. I reckon I could do it.
Next in training, NASA showed me around their enormous space facility. This is the second largest pool on Earth, which, I'll be honest, just felt like they were flexing on us, especially when they showed me the spacesuit. As far as anybody is concerned, once you try on a spacesuit, you're an astronaut. But of course, there was a catch.
When you go on a spacewalk, do you have to wear a diaper? You're in the suit for 12 hours. There you go. Like an actual real adult diaper, okay.
So be careful. This is a space artifact. It's flown on the space shuttle several times. So real astronauts have worn this. Yes. Keep in mind that astronaut peed in this. Have you peed in this suit? I have not in the suit. Okay.
When's the next mission? What are you doing a year from now? I can make time. Okay.
And the final step of my training was the craziest thing I've ever done. They were going to let me touch the moon. No, no. Lean back into it because it weighs 9,000 pounds. This weighs 9,000 pounds. Nice.
This is the largest collection of moon rocks on display anywhere in the world. I can't believe they're letting us do this. You realize, we're just a YouTube channel? Yeah. Oh, my God. These were just straight up on the moon.
What are the odds you'll let me touch the Genesis Rock? Zero. Yesterday, we dug up dinosaur fossils. I'm an expert in this kind of stuff. Can I touch it? No. I tried.
This material here is actually lunar soil. No way, bro. You're actually touching the moon right now. Oh, that's wild.
So that tube has dirt from the moon and has not been open since it came back. And since you haven't checked, in theory, there could be an alien. Yes. Well, it would be the first from the moon. Wait, you guys heard that? From the moon? He said from the moon!
And after we found out aliens are totally real, we head into the stratosphere for our next job, where Karl and Nolan are going to fly a plane. I've never flown a plane before. We have no idea what we're doing. Welcome to the first day of flight training.
I'm not joking, for the boys to somehow fly a real plane, all they have to do is land one time in this flight simulator. All right, here we have our throttle. Pulling it back makes it go slower. Just like that. Oh. Oh, my God.
And after Nolan crashed. Oh, God. And crashed. And crashed. You crashed the plane?! He eventually did land successfully, which, for whatever reason, gave him the keys to fly this real plane.
Yo, I'm freaking out. Hey, if you can't do this, Nolan, please, for the love of God, let them know now. Oh, my God. I'm going to fly a plane. Oh, my God.
All right, you ready to go? As ready as I'll ever be. Full throttle. Approaching 60. Kind of wobbly, but now, just pull back a little bit. We're taking off. There you go. Oh, my God.
Your life is in my hands. He's literally controlling this entire thing. Yes, he is, all by himself. Turbulence has never caused a crash, right? Oh, well.
Watch this, I'm going to turn right. No. Turn right. Oh, my God, we're sideways. I can't believe that I'm controlling this thing.
All right, we're going to go over there in a minute, we're going to go back and land. Oh, my God. I forgot. That's the one thing, it's always a challenge for people. All right, I'm descending. My mental health is descending also. This is the part I crashed it every time in the simulator. Oh, God.
We're going to land right there on top of that runway. Oh, my God. Wait, we're too close, right? Keep it pointed right down the middle. Oh, my God. Easy. Keep your hand on the throttle. You're going to wait to pull back. Just breathe. Here we go.
We touched ground. You did it, man. I landed a plane. Oh, my God. He said I couldn't do it, but we're still here.
I was genuinely surprised the job that pays $1 million a year is hand modeling. But only if you're one of the highest paid hand models in the world. She makes five times the average salary of a doctor by letting people take photos of her hand, and her resume is stacked. She's hand modeled for almost any brand you've ever heard of. Her hands are even insured for $1,000,000 per hand. I can't wait to see this in action.
So to start us off, she examined our hands. I didn't know that today was going to be the day that I'd find new insecurities. Okay, so immediately I can see the nails need work. Of course. I agree. Okay. Look how much hair is here compared to Karl's. Can I get paid more for that? The skin texture might be better here with these two.
Can you change me? I don't know if I can work miracles, but I haven't seen your hands yet, Jimmy. Your hands glow. That's crazy. Why are your hands so glossy? I don't know. Are my finger structures good? Yeah, they're very good actually. But again, we've got cuticle issues, skin issues here. But that can all be fixed.
Our hands clearly needed work, so we had to prepare them to shoot, which was pretty easy for me and Karl. But for Lazar, not so much. Oh, God. Bro, you can make a rug out of all that hair. This hair has been with me my whole life, but you got to do what you got to do if you want to make a million dollars.
And now that my hands are no longer disgusting, we're going to model for an actual magazine. And these photos are literally going to be shown on billboards all across America to promote these watches. That's petrifying. Yeah. No pressure. Okay. The watch looks good.
I honestly thought this was going to be easy, but we were actually horrible at this. It looks like the watch is on a snake. Bro, this is so hard. Can I see the difference with you doing it? What? Unreal. The product looks better because your hand doesn't shake as much. And even though our photos weren't great, we still got them on billboards across the country.
And now it was finally time for the job that pays $10 million per year. That's right. I'm about to literally join the NFL. This is literally my dream. And if you think this is all fake, here I am signing a real contract to become a literal player for the Buccaneers worth $10 million.
It might say we're not going to pay it, but it at least says that dollar amount. No, no, focus on the dollar amount. And now it's official. Congratulations. So for the next 48 hours, I'm officially a player. You are officially a player. I promise I won't let you down. I promise he will let you down.
By the end of my contract, I'm going to be running out with the team on the field in front of 60,000 fans. First step is weight training.
It might be too light, let's go up. Let's go up. Easy. I don't actually think they're paying me the 10 million. Easy! Easy! Are you a winner or are you a Falcon? Easy. Yeah! I notice they yell at you a lot when you're an NFL player.
Can you set it to whatever the strongest player in your team does? I'm going to see if I can do one. He can do 12 of these? He's not a normal human. I would hate to be hit by him. One more! Yeah! Football! Easy! Come on. Why is the NFL so hard?
How is this compared to their typical workouts? It's pretty pathetic. Hopefully the lightheadedness goes away. It will. You get used to it. Okay.
Up next was my first practice at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers training facility. So naturally I met my coach. Hello, MrBeast! I'm the coach. How you doing? Good! And my new teammates. Nice to meet you, man. My name's Shaq. My kids love you. I love your videos, the candy bars, the Karl Gummies. Oh, really? Yeah!
And my new teammates couldn't believe that I actually signed with the team, so I showed them my contract to prove it. This is the same one you guys signed? You got more money than me though. I ain't getting much. But if you read it says, "Unless it's canceled in 48 hours..." We're still going to cancel. Yeah. Look at the five. Y'all look at the parentheses for sure.
Hey, you're official. Welcome to the team. Thank you. My new teammates over here. You got to work hard. These guys make us look like children. They're so big. Look at the size comparison.
I'll be honest, I've never played football before, so they threw me on as kicker, which I was terrible at. MrBeast, we need you out here! We got to get ready for tomorrow. You're right. You're right. I'll QB. And since I've never played quarterback before either, I just threw it up as far as I could. That's a touchdown.
In case you didn't know, the team I just joined is the same team Tom Brady won the Super Bowl with, so I thought it'd be funny to surprise him. Oh, we got him, Tom. Oh, I almost got hit. TB, what's up, baby? What's up, TB? What's up, bro? How my boys doing?
I have a friend here who might literally die of happiness if you say hi to him. You can't do this to me. You can't do this to me. Lannan, I love you, bro. I'm dead.
After that, our practice just devolved into shenanigans. Little man. Tareq. Too small, yeah. You could go back to filming. All right, guys. See y'all.
Some people still have some questions about my two-day contract. So afterwards the Bucs set up a press conference for me. We obviously have a big game. I'm expecting very serious questions only.
Is this just a publicity stunt? Why are you really here? To make the best video possible. Yes, it's a publicity stunt. I clearly am not an NFL player. Jimmy, how does it feel being on a new team? It feels great, to be honest. They've accepted me way more than I thought. How much playing time are you expecting? None.
And after explaining over and over again that it's just a stunt, I went to go get measured. Six foot four and a half. Six, four and a half? Karl, you're six five. I'm six five. Yeah. Yeah. These measurements are key so that my gear and my uniform are all custom fitting. This actually looks so good. There we go.
And now that I'm suited up, it's time for the official game day. I still don't know why they're letting me do this. But hey, thanks, Bucs. Are you surprised they let me join the team? Yes. That's my first football I've ever signed.
Jimmy's about to come out any second now. They say if you get up by 100, I can play a play. Do me a favor and get up super hot. Sounds good. It's his first game and probably his last. Definitely his last. How is this happening? Fire the cannons! That's great...
And since this is the only NFL game I'll ever be a part of, the team actually let me lead them out the tunnel. Let's go, boys. Yeah! Jimmy! That's our friend. Let's not get run over by the players. Yeah!
Is it the best day of your life? This is the best day of my life, Jimmy. I love you. We're getting passed by the players. Jimmy's an NFL player. How's it going? Let's go, Bucs. I won't let you guys down, even though I probably won't get play time.
I love America. That's a big plane! America. Let's play football. Yeah!
Huge shout-out to the Buccaneers for making me an official NFL player. It's honestly a good thing that I didn't play because if they hit me, I probably would have died.
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