NFL: 2 yrs after retirement, 78% are broke

[Monello]

Hard for the average Jane or Joe to feel sorry for someone that burns through a couple of million dollars. Maybe make the contracts pay them out over a 20 year period. By then they should have a handle on how to manage money.

Just two years after their athletic careers end, 78% of former NFL players are bankrupt or nearly there, according to an analysis by Sports Illustrated.
"I've made millions and I lost millions," admits Eddie George, who was a first round draft pick in 1996 and went on to play nine seasons in the NFL as a running back.

"I bought a ton of jewelry coming out, cars, a stereo system that was worth more than the car," George says. "I found out real quick that money and ignorance is not a good combination."

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/10/investing/nfl-draft-money/index.html?iid=Lead&hpt=hp_t2

 

[b23hqb]

Doesn't surprise me at all. There are players that are broke while they are still playing.Can't say they were not warned by the NFL as they all go through financial planning sessions each year as required by the league.

I have no pity for them - stupid is as stupid does.

 

[vraiblonde]

I think Eddie George gave all the analysis this subject needs:

"I found out real quick that money and ignorance is not a good combination."

Look at the Hollywood actors and music stars who blew through their million$$ and ended up broke. I mean, Nicolas Cage???

 

[Larry Gude]

Part of the problem is that sports stars are committed and work at their game from a pretty early age to the exclusion of pretty much everything else with little or nor return on their investment unless they are one of the very few who get drafted. We're not talking Average Joe who used sports to get an education or Kevin Plank who walked on at Maryland purely out of love of the game and then went on to form Under Armor.

Cage, George, we're talking about people who are NOT much good at anything other than acting or playing. Nugent is another example. Bernie Kosar. Aerosmith. Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

The HUGE difference is that entertainers have the rest of their lives to learn their lessons and recover by doing what they are good at. An athlete has a very narrow window.

 

[Gilligan]

Grant Hill was the commencement speaker at Duke's business school graduation last Saturday. Until then, I didn't know anything about his resume beyond his basketball fame, but there's a guy who has done really well after his sports career ended . REALLY well.

 

[Larry Gude]

Grant Hill was the commencement speaker at Duke's business school graduation last Saturday. Until then, I didn't know anything about his resume beyond his basketball fame, but there's a guy who has done really well after his sports career ended . REALLY well.

You know who his dad is? Dallas RB Calvin. Parenting helps, a lot.

 

[Gilligan]

You know who his dad is? Dallas RB Calvin. Parenting helps, a lot.

His mother, who attended the commencement, has (I learned) been very active on various boards or committees at Duke over the years...and long after her son graduated back in '94. yep..good parents, fully engaged...what a novel concept.

The Fuqua Executive MBA program is an elite internationally renowned program; of the 430 graduating students (whose average age is probably around 30) almost half were from 43 other countries. What was remarkable beyond that was the number of parents and even extended families that attended the commencement, coming from all those countries just for that.