Well, among those players was Rams' WR Odell Beckham Jr, who opted to take his 2021 contract in Bitcoin after signing with the Rams for $750,000.
At the time, Bitcoin was worth upwards of $60k, but after the recent collapse of the crypto market, the money from Beckham's contract has not only disappeared, with taxes factored in, he actually was paid negative dollars...
Yes, Odell Beckham paid to play in the NFL last year, and if Beckham were to cash on his Bitcoin, it would have cost him nearly $200k.