When most people think of professional athletes, they think of them as overpaid men who do not deserve the money that they are paid. While I definitely do not agree with those opinions, that is a topic for another day. However, a sad topic that is for today is the addition of another former player to a growing list of athletes who, after their careers have ended, have gone bankrupt. The latest athlete who has had to file for some type of bankruptcy is former NFL running back Jamal Lewis.
Over the course of nine NFL seasons, Lewis ran for over 10,000 yards and scored 58 touchdowns. His best year was 2003, when he became only the fifth player in the history of the NFL to rush for over 2,000 yards (Chris Johnson accomplished the feat in 2009, making him the sixth running back to do so). During that year he also ran for a single game record 295 yards (a record that has also since been broken), and was named as the AP Offensive Player of the Year. Lewis also won a Super Bowl with the Ravens and starred at the University of Tennessee in college while playing alongside Peyton Manning.
Yet, despite his stellar playing career, Lewis was just another athlete who was unable to handle his money and is paying for it now. Now while former athletes going bankrupt has happened to players in all sports, it is especially troubling to hear it happen to a football player. Because of the nature of the game they play, the players have a very short amount of time to turn their skills into profit before their careers are over. Lewis retired in 2009 at the age of 30. In probably about 99% of other professions, people are decades away from retirement at age 30. Most football players do not last more than a few years in the league. They are thrown into the fire at a young age, and many of them know only football and are unable to earn any money after they retire because they either do not know of anything but a life of football, or because they suffer injuries that do not allow them to find a job after football. Lewis played long enough to at least sign a contract as a free agent and not just earn the money from his rookie contract and nothing else.
That contract still didn't allow Lewis to learn how to handle his finances, and he claimed to have over $10 million in debts as he filed for bankruptcy. Sadly, this pales in comparison to some other cases of athletes and their financial problems. Mark Brunell claimed $25 million in debts when he filed for bankruptcy in 2010. John Daly claimed to have lost over $50 million due to gambling, and claimed to have once lost over $1.5 million in five hours playing slot machines. Latrell Sprewell turned down a three year, $21 million contract by saying that it wasn't enough money to feed his kids. He has since been sued for $200 million due to unpaid child support, and had a yacht repossesed that he still owed over $1 million on.
The example of an athlete losing millions that is probably most famous is the case of Mike Tyson, who, for a multitude of reasons, filed for bankruptcy in 2003 after reportedly earning over $400 million during his boxing career. Despite his meteoric rise to fame in the boxing world, he was far from able to handle his money, and has since paid dearly for it. While Tyson was surrounded by a ton of money hungry hangers-on (just look up the name Don King), he also had no clue when it came to finances, as his purchase of a $2 million bathtub is evidence of. Today, Tyson can be seen making cameo appearances in any movie he can get an offer from, is performing in Las Vegas in his own one-man show, and is known as a relative clown instead of one of the greatest boxing stories in the history of the sport.
However, not every athlete suffers this fate. Undefeated, multiple division boxing champion Floyd Mayweather is known for being his own financial advisor, and meticulously arranges all of the arrangements of each of his fights. He, despite the exploitation of most of his other opponents, usually always negotiates ways to earn more than 50% of the profits of his fights, and has been involved in the three largest grossing, non-heavyweight fights in the history of boxing. His fights with Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, and Victor Ortiz combined to bring in total profits of over $293 million. Mayweather does live a lavish life, but his earnings have come largely from his own negotiating talents.
Bobby Bonilla is another example of an athlete exemplifying financial prowess. Despite retiring from baseball as a New York Met in 2000, in a strange but savvy display of financial artistry, Bonilla is being paid a $1.19 million yearly salary by the Mets from now until 2035. The Mets were so eager to rid themselves of Bonilla that they agreed to pay him that annual salary in a buyout of his contract in 2000. Bonilla lives comfortably in a modest sized (relatively speaking) home, and can collect his paycheck once each year for the next 23 years despite not having played baseball in 12 years.
Sadly though, not all athletes are as financially adroit as Mayweather and Bonilla. The list of athletes filing for bankruptcy is continually growing larger and larger, and right now Jamal Lewis can only dream of handling his money as well as Floyd Mayweather and Bobby Bonilla. Maybe all those years of being punched in the face by opponents has done what the expression says, and actually knocked some sense into Floyd Mayweather.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: The road has still been rocky, with more downs than ups. Daniel Hudson is back, so aside from Stephen Drew, the team is near full-strength. The good news is that the Dodgers seem to be coming back down to Earth a bit, but a 25-30 record still isn't going to cut it no matter who is ahead of us. Ian Kennedy goes tonight against the Rockies, following a win against Tim Lincecum in his last start. Hope for the best...
Daily Giants Update: Osi Umenyiora is officially back for another year. Hakeem Nicks broke his foot during workouts, but should be back for Week 1, when the defending champs open the year against the Cowboys on September 5th.
Daily Rangers Update: The season came to a sad close in New Jersey against the Devils. I really felt like the Rangers could have won the Stanley Cup this season, so anything less was a disappointment. So now all there is left to do is sit back and watch the Kings roll to what seems to be an inevitable championship and wait for next season.
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