Why do so many NFL players go bankrupt?

A lot of these athletes put their trust in people they shouldn't. Even if they should, you should never put 100% trust in anyone else when it comes to managing your money. I've also seen a lot of these people invest money in their friends' businesses or even just business ideas. And if/when they try to get out of it they're faced with the guilt trip of "Aw man, you've changed. Forgot about us"


Good Point,I've worked with a few former athletes and one even had a degree from Georgetown.Yet they all listen to their friends and put money into things they never checked out.
In the old days before sports became a fulltime job these guys had to get jobs after the season was over so most were prepared to go on after their careers were over.Now these guys think that when they are retired ....they can go another 50 years with out working ........and with some of the amounts they make the're right yet you still must be prudent with your money.If you make 10 mill your agent gets 10% off the top,IRS gets 4 or 5,then you take care of Mom or Mom and Dad ...another 1 or 2...leaves you 1 or 2 for yourself and if you have kids or a wife that will be gone quick.

If I were an agent, I'd make it mandatory for my clients to have a financial adviser before the draft. I'm not great with finances, luckily my bank is always very good at helping me out.

If you're eligible for USAA -- there's not a single thing I haven't loved about the company.

I still think the most amazing thing, is the pure number of lottery winners who blow the money in no time.

I think Daseal's cogent observation that lottery winners succumb to the same insolvency suggests that we can't blame this all on hip-hop. Here's a really good article on some celebrities of yore who also went bust: Tales of the Broke and Famous by Stephen Schochet as submitted to things-and-other-stuff (http://www.things-and-other-stuff.com/movies/hollywood-stories/24.htm)

If a guy gets all that dough for playing a game, he is going to be tempted to blow it by living the fantasy/illusion that has been "programmed" into him.

"Easy come, easy go" is a saying that grips so many young athletes. It's prevalent in all sports and mainly because of reasons others have already expressed.

When it comes to squandering wealth, I always felt there was no greater example than Roberto Duran. Guy made enough from three fights with Sugar Ray to last the average person several lifetimes. However, spending eight thousand dollars a night in bars is a typical example of not knowing what to do with it.

Daseal's point about lottery winners pretty much points out the obvious in this to me; it is an extreme culture shock of sorts to go from low to mod. means to being wealthy. To some degree it doesn't matter what your socioeconomic background is, there are people from all walks of life who've become rich only to go broke. Even smart people who happen to make bad decisions.

Have you ever discounted somebody's success because they inherited the family biz or family money? Well compare that person's financial mgmt. to some of these guys. We tend to disregard "old money" people as being privildged, and maybe they are to a degree, but there's more to managing a lot of money than most low to middle class people understand.

Maintaining wealth is just as hard as achieving wealth. In football terms, it's harder to repeat as super bowl champions than it is to win that first one. Most nfl players, and I believe most of the general public, don't have a concept of what it takes to maintain wealth.

A lot of these athletes put their trust in people they shouldn't. Even if they should, you should never put 100% trust in anyone else when it comes to managing your money. I've also seen a lot of these people invest money in their friends' businesses or even just business ideas. And if/when they try to get out of it they're faced with the guilt trip of "Aw man, you've changed. Forgot about us"

When it comes to trusting the wrong people, I agree, that's just as retarded. I mean how hard is it to simply leave all your money in a savings account until you've gotten yourself a little more educated on how to handle money?

If you piss it away you have only yourself to blame. Lack of foresight, lack of understanding, lack of thought put into it, lack of judgment when selecting money managers, it all comes back to the athlete.

Daseal's point about lottery winners pretty much points out the obvious in this to me; it is an extreme culture shock of sorts to go from low to mod. means to being wealthy. To some degree it doesn't matter what your socioeconomic background is, there are people from all walks of life who've become rich only to go broke. Even smart people who happen to make bad decisions.

Have you ever discounted somebody's success because they inherited the family biz or family money? Well compare that person's financial mgmt. to some of these guys. We tend to disregard "old money" people as being privildged, and maybe they are to a degree, but there's more to managing a lot of money than most low to middle class people understand.

Maintaining wealth is just as hard as achieving wealth. In football terms, it's harder to repeat as super bowl champions than it is to win that first one. Most nfl players, and I believe most of the general public, don't have a concept of what it takes to maintain wealth.

No, no. It's not at all. I have $100 million in the bank, I'll put it in safe investments. It earns 3%, so I make $3 million a year. I can spend $3 million a year and not lose any of my $100 million.

$3 million annually amounts to $250,000 monthly. I can have three big mortgage payments on three big homes throughout the country. I can buy a car each month. I can eat out whenever I want to. It's not hard to budget for that at all.

What's not easy is coming into $100 million. Every single intelligent person on this message board would handle $100 million A LOT better than these moron athletes.

When it comes down to it, this epitomizes the dumb meathead jock. It's a disgrace.

If you tossed a few mill at a bunch of us here, I'm sure more than a few would end up in the same boat as these athletes. People in every walk of life have money management issues no matter how much you make.

I think any 20 yr old that becomes an overnight millionaire would have trouble controlling their spending habits especially when it seems like the gravy train will roll on forever (even though it wont).

I dont think hip hop has anything to do with it but I do think that when someone comes from a poor background and they suddenly have a lot of $ it seems like they could be more prone to start over-enjoying a lifestyle they never dreamed they'd have.