I do find it hard to be sympathetic to people who have millions and simply piss it away due to deep emotional immaturity, a willing lack of foresight, and the complete neglect of their own financial lives.

But seeing how the NFL basically does nothing for its players outside of legal obligations, I suppose I would have no reason to object to such a program.

It's the Jack Benny's with moths in their wallets that cause all the problems.

I wonder if the NFL player alumnus who commit crimes, go to jail, declare bankrupycy, etc., is statastically different from the general populace? My idle famaliarity with the NFL says probably not. But I wonder if we compare NFL vets with other pro sports vets, is there statistical differences?

Warren Sapp, Terrel Owens and others like them didn't lose their millions by just lavishing themselves and their friends with material goods, they lost most of their cabbage by making a bunch of poor investments. I'm willing to bet that many of them were taken advantage of. I wonder if part of the financial counseling includes teaching players how to recognize a sound vs. unsound investment? If not it really should.

@4 The investment aspect is probably pretty huge. Most stories I've read about athletes who lose all their money make some mention of failed investments, and it's not just people who grew up poor either. Mark Brunell comes to mind.

Goldy,
I read about Sapp yesterday and at first was surprised (largely at the amount he apparently owes, $6.45 million!) but then again, not so much. Bloody sad and ridiculous. I did read that the NFL does have a program of financial counseling. But clearly if Sapp attended a session at all, it didn't work.

This seems to be an intractable problem with male pro athletes (the list is very long but here are a few, John Unitas, Jack Clark, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Shawn Kemp, O. J. etc.) vs. female pro athletes. I've only heard of one celebrity athlete, Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby who had major financial problems. And granted, there are far more male pro athletes than female. But still, I wonder what if any, role gender plays into these financial crises. I do believe youth plays a big role. One is simply more foolish in youth. BTW, I read recently Allen Iverson is having $ issues.

Successfully "retiring" before the age of 40 is difficult in any field. Let alone one where you self-inflict brain trauma on yourself for years at a time.

It is false to say the players get very little in the way of financial advice. They receive it from both the NFL and the union (NFLPA).

These are seldom 22-year-old kids we're talking about. The young players may buy too many cars and jewelry and strip-club dances, but more typically it's the older player who makes bad investment decisions, despite having access to the best financial advisors money can buy. At that point it's pretty hard to blame the league.

@6: You'd be hard-pressed to find a female athlete making anywhere close to the kind of money that men make in the NBA, NFL, MLB, etc.

@6

Female professional athletes, of course, are not paid anywhere near what male pros make, neither in salary nor in product sponsorship deals.

I think I'd probably make better decisions with less money, personally. If I got a sudden windfall of a couple million, my sometimes unhelpful brain would say something like "you're set for life, you don't have to worry about money ever again." With tens of thousands, my sometimes unhelpful brain would want to spend days reading dubious investment advice on the internet.

@7 You're exactly right. The NFL goes to great lengths to help rookies manage their finances & lives. They even have a program with the Wharton School.
The problem is a classic 'Horse to Water' situation. Far too many of these guys have barely a middle school education and the corresponding life skills. If they didn't learn much of anything during the couple of years they spent at a university, a few seminars aren't going to make much of a difference.

I do not agree with arguments that boil down to "These former NFL players you hear about, they are poor because they are stupid."

There are quite a lot of rich stupid people walking around out there, and a lot of them will die rich and stupid.

Being rich is not a matter of brainpower; just ask any university professor. Being rich is a first and foremost a consequence of societal structure, and in our particular society, it can quite easily be the result of pure dumb luck.

The NFL has always been like that, quite frankly.

At least according to the former football stars we study, that is.

Why should only pro athletes get financial education?

I find it outrageous that economics and finance aren't required courses in grade school. A country based on capitalism and money that doesn't even teach its citizens about capitalism and money. Idiotic.

oh, i'm supposed to feel bad about these idiots? am i also expected to feel bad about mc hammer or vanilla ice? if you don't realize that pissing your money away on gold gates and 300 pairs of jordans is stupid, then you deserve to lose all your money.

Why, I watched the first two-thirds of "MC Hammer: Behind the Music" and if there's one thing I learned about money it's that it never runs out!