Professional Athlete Bankruptcy Over/Under Thread

[The AD]

I'll bet every professional league or players' union offers financial advice and other resources to rookies. Many just choose to ignore it. Making it rain is cool, saving for retirement is not.

[strawjack]

Not sure if it's true but heard Gronkowski doesn't spend a dime of his contract money, it all is invested and saved for post football. He lives and plays off his endorsement money. A lot these guys could benefit from that type of thinking.

Yeah, but Gronk is a superstar among superstars. Not many of these guys get the big endorsement contracts.

I met Ryan Griffen (pro TE) at my golf course the other day. Guy was huge! They were playing as a twosome, so they caught up and we let them play thru. We made a comment that he looks like a football player and he replied that he is...and still plays.

After they played thru my thoughts were about this exact thread (which I hadn't read yet) and if he was going to save his money and be OK. Later speaking with him at the clubhouse briefly it seems as though he has his shit together and will probably be fine. As long as noted previously about too many concussions.

Our controller has a friend that turned pro back in the late 80's. Played for Jets, got hurt, cut. Then became addicted to pain meds, went broke, became a roofer, homeless, etc. A classic fall. He is now back clean and trying to get his life back...at 52 or so.

All these parents hoping an praying their kid goes pro don't really understand the fail rate of pro athletes. There's only a few Bradys, Mannings out there.

[Steven S. Dallas]

Way back when, George Brett signed his last contract which became, basically, an annuity. His money was deferred over the next twenty years or so.

Bobby Bonilla has the best version of this- the Mets bought out his $6m deal in 1999 and he agreed to defer payment for... like 10 or 12 years, I'm too lazy to look, but at a pretty high interest rate. So instead of getting $6M in 1999, he's going to wind up getting $30m over the next 20 years.

The Mets are fucking terrible at everything.

Also, yeah, all the major leagues now have a financial planning component in their rookie orientation programs.

edit: if you don't know about the St. Louis Spirits and the deal their owners cut when they were left out of the NBA-ABA merger, look it up. That's the *greatest* business deal in sports history.

[Benny Profane]

Bobby Bonilla has the best version of this- the Mets bought out his $6m deal in 1999 and he agreed to defer payment for... like 10 or 12 years, I'm too lazy to look, but at a pretty high interest rate. So instead of getting $6M in 1999, he's going to wind up getting $30m over the next 20 years.

The Mets are fucking terrible at everything.

.

Well, we are talking about a team that has owners who invested almost all their own money with Madoff.

[Platinum Pete]

I'll bet every professional league or players' union offers financial advice and other resources to rookies. Many just choose to ignore it. Making it rain is cool, saving for retirement is not.

Having a strong union pension that players are compelled to buy into would do a lot more than advice. There is/was some notion of this, perhaps more than a notion, as OJ Simpson still gets paid a pension.
In addition to players buying into a pension, the unions ought to have a scholarship fund for their athletes to return to school to finish or advance their degrees. Many would not take advantage of it, but that would leave more for those that do and/or allow them to sponsor other people's educations. This is particularly important for sports that allow players to enter the draft before graduation (NBA, MLB, NHL) - a kid from a poor family can be on full ride at Duke for one year, get drafted, play one game and have a career ending injury and never have college money again. The players unions need to take care of their own a lot better.

[Tippster]

You forgot NFL - there is absolutely no rule that says you need a degree to enter the draft.

[The AD]

In addition to players buying into a pension, the unions ought to have a scholarship fund for their athletes to return to school to finish or advance their degrees.

Good idea. Then again if they didn't burn through their money they wouldn't need a scholarship if/when they return to school...

[IVplay]

I'll have a pumpkin spice latte, please:

http://www.thescore.com/nba/news/800838

"Former NBA star Vin Baker training to become Starbucks manager"

[Cono Este]

Good idea. Then again if they didn't burn through their money they wouldn't need a scholarship if/when they return to school...

Thats where your wrong AD, they dont all burn through their money. Many of them "invest" and get hosed. Id argue they lose more in restraunts, bars, real estate investments, wives, and just getting plain ripped off before they are wise to the world, wise to women, and wise to investments than they blow on themselves.

Ive seen it, too closely.

Ditto on the pensions and annuities. But i cant say annuities because all the stock pumpers will blow a gasget. But annuities would serve these guys very, very well.

[The AD]

Well then maybe they shouldn't put all their eggs into one basket. Isn't that sort of financial planning 101?

[BmillsSkier]

Funny, I was visiting the fam this week and heard this story about a guy I went to high school with. Just goes to show it's not all poor, black athletes that are fools with their first big payday. Guy graduated in '98, was a first rounder with the A's and got immediately traded to the ChiSox. Got a $4M contract. Fizzled out in the minors over about 4 years and came out of it with $0.

It's been years since I've seen the guy and couldn't pick him out of a lineup now but I guess he was a complete fool with his money. Came from a 'good' family in a wealthy hometown. I guess he did all the usual stupid shit: bought the new 7 series, cash; 'invested' in a buddy's bar; and was apparently legendary with his bar tabs in spring training and extended spring training in AZ. Now works for his dad's company in a not so important role so at least there's that security net. Folks told he's a regular fixture at the country club bar telling stories of his time in the bigs to anyone who will listen.

Sad, really.

[Danno]

turns out Josh Smith -- the guy who inspired this thread -- was totally misinterpreted and skewered by a media always looking for stories: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/josh-smith-clippers/

Read his explanation and read what he said again. I believe him.

[BmillsSkier]

turns out Josh Smith -- the guy who inspired this thread -- was totally misinterpreted and skewered by a media always looking for stories: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/josh-smith-clippers/

Read his explanation and read what he said again. I believe him.

Good perspective. Sounds believable.

vin baker

http://www.providencejournal.com/art...ORTS/150729380

Good on that guy for making a second go of it. Good luck to him. He could easily just sit back and blame others.

[LightRanger]

I believe him too. The full quote makes sense when read that way.

[fastfred]

it is just money. Too many beaters are doing the 9-5 suburban lifestyle, sitting in traffic everyday, drinking themselves to death on the weekends. They make good money but are miserable as fuck. I'll take my 100+ days, riding singletrack everyday and living in an awesome town all day instead of an extra 30-40k/yr in income so I can have my mcmansion...It is all about perspective and it's just money. Most people suck at finances, but it's not rocket science either. A few million dollars managed right will set you up for life without working, while still having plenty for entertainment and everyday luxuries.

agreed money aint' shit it's just money its not just athletes look at lottery winners, I've see people with a trust fund literally blow and drink right through it in a year, how many families are over extended with a mort, two nice car payments, and credit cards

car broke down yesterday left it on the side of the road didn't want to deal with it gotta go see if I can get it running and bring it to the shop tow trucks are expensive be a beater or drive a beater kind of like the time I lost my brakes in silverthorne and drove back to breck just kept hoping some texan in a 75,000 suv would rear end me

[Benny Profane]

I remember you. First round draft pick in '89. Still on parole from that cocaine possession conviction?

[The AD]

car broke down yesterday left it on the side of the road didn't want to deal with it gotta go see if I can get it running and bring it to the shop tow trucks are expensive be a beater or drive a beater kind of like the time I lost my brakes in silverthorne and drove back to breck just kept hoping some texan in a 75,000 suv would rear end me

Interesting sentence construction.

[flatlander#2]

Have a buddy that spent 2 years in the USFL then with the Dolphins as a right side O Guard for 3-4 seasons, went to THE Ohio State for his college game. Busted his femur in TWO places in Kansas City, donesville. If you have ever seen a rail mat in a bar, that would be his company. He grew up rural OH, no money, said he didn't know what to do with any of it when he got to the show so he just saved it and lived his life normally. They don't all end up broke.

[XXX-er]

. He grew up rural OH, no money, said he didn't know what to do with any of it when he got to the show so he just saved it and lived his life normally. They don't all end up broke.

i wonder how many folks are not smart enough to lose all their money by investing in stuff so they just put it all in the bank or some guarantied investment?

[Cono Este]

Hind sight is 20/20.

That's why taking the annuity vs the lump some lottery can be a better decision. you cannot plan for everything, that's what the dip shit financial advisors don't factor into the predictions. Divorce, mother in laws, lawsuits etc.

If you made 10 mill in the the NFL from 2000 to 2010, 3% went to the agent, probably anotherm 7 to the pension and other people, so have nine million before taxes about 5 after takes. You spent 150k a yr for those 10 yrs ( and that's modest), the real estate market crapped out and so did your diversified portfolio so you might have had 2.5 mm left when you were done.

Then take out half for the divorce, and you have a guy with no skills, no income potential who will need 5 yrs minimum to accept realty that he can only lay bricks and haul tile the rest of his life.

= broke

but im sure some in here would have been seed investors in facebook, loaded up on gold and would have rejected all the hot sluts that threw themselves at you.

[pineconepete]

I don't think anyone on this thread has mentioned any pro skier or snowboarder.
Who, if any have gone broke, and who will be the next to hit the skids?
Not sure if the top snow athletes make NFL / NBA type money, but they do pretty good none the less.
Could we be watching Shawn White on court TV in 10 years?

[LightRanger]

I don't think anyone on this thread has mentioned any pro skier or snowboarder.
Who, if any have gone broke, and who will be the next to hit the skids?
Not sure if the top snow athletes make NFL / NBA type money, but they do pretty good none the less.
Could we be watching Shawn White on court TV in 10 years?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Johnson_(skier)

[LightRanger]

Then there's this guy:
http://espn.go.com/blog/detroit-lion...?ex_cid=ESPNFB

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Ryan Broyles grabs his cell phone every morning over breakfast and pores over the latest transactions. What the Detroit Lions wide receiver is looking at, though, has nothing to do with football.Over the past three-plus years, Broyles has become immersed in the financial world. His financial planning throughout his career allowed him to make a lot of investments. So when he laments the S&P 500 has "been sideways" most of the year, he has good reason.
It all started after a meeting with a financial adviser soon after being drafted in 2012. The adviser gave Broyles some advice he used to shape his life: Spend as you would like over the next few months. Figure out your means. Then set a budget, live within it and invest the rest.
Broyles signed a contract worth more than $3.6 million after being taken in the second round. More than $1.422 million was guaranteed. But Broyles knew the other statistics -- ones reinforced when he went to the rookie symposium.
He knew NFL players, and athletes in general, go bankrupt. He saw athletes blow through millions. He was determined not to have that happen to him.
He came up with a budget. Broyles said he and his wife, Mary Beth, have lived on $60,000 a year, "give or take," throughout his career. Everything else has gone to investments, retirement savings and securing Broyles' post-football monetary future.
Broyles wanted to make sure his NFL career, however long it lasts, really did set him up for life.
"Then you know how much you can invest, how risky you can be," Broyles said, as he enters the last year of his rookie contract with no guarantee he'll make the Lions roster. "Then, when I was hitting the same budget over three, four, five months, it was all right, this is what your budget is and I had some spending money.
"I didn't hold myself back at all on those terms. That's what I tell people when they want to start to invest, I tell them to live your life and see where you stand and then pull back. Don't pull back without even knowing."
He has no problem driving a red Ford Focus rental car during training camp this year. It's why he and his wife drive Mazdas -- he recently bought a new one -- and he still has his 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer from college.
Broyles wouldn't go into specifics about his investments -- just smiling wide when asked. Despite some big changes in his life this offseason -- the couple bought their first home in Texas and had their first child, Sebastian -- he doesn't feel any more pressure to succeed on the field because he has an extra mouth to feed.
"The pressure I put on myself is just being the best player I am," Broyles said. "I would never play [just] for money, you know what I mean, that's not my intentions whatsoever.
"Whatever comes, it's just a blessing. But I got the mindset of a businessman off the field, I'll tell you that."
Broyles immersed himself in the financial world. In March, he went to Washington, D.C., with New Orleans running back Mark Ingram to speak to students about financial planning. He worked with VISA and the NFL on promoting a Financial Football video game in classrooms to help teach financial security and planning in both D.C. and his home state of Oklahoma.
"I studied as much as I could," Broyles said. "Talked to people wealthier than me, smarter than me. So that definitely helps."
He checks his investments daily on that cell phone app and has taken advantage of every possibility to increase his savings and earnings, including the NFL's matching 401K plan.
He's doing all of this to make sure that whatever happens in football he can be secure in his own future and focus only on how to improve himself on the field.
"When I come to work, I don't think about the money, man," Broyles said. "I can tell you that, without a doubt. There might be some guys that do but I put myself in a position where I come out here and have fun.
"I don't have that pressure, you know what I mean. My wife has no worries. My child has no worries. For the most part, I can help my family, you know."

[Benny Profane]

Could we be watching Shawn White on court TV in 10 years?

Please. Popcorn ready.

[neufox47]

I don't think anyone on this thread has mentioned any pro skier or snowboarder.
Who, if any have gone broke, and who will be the next to hit the skids?
Not sure if the top snow athletes make NFL / NBA type money, but they do pretty good none the less.
Could we be watching Shawn White on court TV in 10 years?

So few ever make it out of the broke status to begin with. Bode, Tanner, White, who else has ever had a net worth of over $1m strictly from skiing? Maybe Sage now?