Athletes have a strange way of doing things. Their entire lives, they have trained in a particular sport and a lot of them skipped out on the part that offered a free formal education. Perhaps some should have stayed in school and learned a thing or two about finances. Athletes have notoriously short careers, too, since you can’t play in the NFL when you’re 73 years old (unless you’re Brett Favre).
Star athletes get paid millions for playing a game, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise if they go broke after their careers are over. That sounds a bit crazy, but some players don’t get paid nearly as much as you might think. For example, an NFL player that signs a $5 million per year contract could get injured, which means his pay would be knocked down to around $2 million. Between massive taxes, agent fees, union dues and other necessary evils, that might only come out to about $800,000 when it’s all said and done. That’s quite the difference when you break it down like that, isn’t it?
So which athletes squandered the most money away after their playing days wound down? Here are the athletes that went broke too quickly.
#15 – Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson was the baddest man in all of boxing during his prime. Tyson was knocking out opponents left and right, but got knocked out by the IRS just months after his final win as a boxer. Tyson ended up with $27 million in debt even after earning a ridiculous $300 million from his boxing career.
The puncher became more of a punchline once his career was over and he went into solitude for a few years. Tyson even took up an interest in pigeons for some odd reason. It wasn’t until his appearance in “The Hangover” that things started to turn around for him. Tyson’s not rich anymore, but he’s doing a lot better and even has his own cartoon on Adult Swim (that features a strange, alternate universe version of himself whom solves mysteries in the aptly named “Mike Tyson Mysteries”), mostly by accident.
#14 – Michael Vick
Only in America can you obtain millions of dollars before even starting a job that you have never done professionally, and lose it all. That’s exactly what happened to Vick, when he owed the IRS millions in unpaid taxes.
While Vick was locked up like the dogs he used to make fight each other, he received the news that he was officially bankrupt, just to throw fuel on the fire. It seemed like his playing career was over, but Vick was given another chance by the Philadelphia Eagles and then the New York Jets. He ended up replacing Tim Tebow’s spot on the roster, since the Jets wanted to go in a complete opposite direction, apparently.
#13 – Kenny Anderson
Kenny Anderson had a decent career as a basketball player, earning $60 million throughout the years, but now he is only worth $150,000. Anderson made a mistake and went on the path of an athlete who thought that he would be playing forever. The hoopster collected vehicles (which is the opposite of real estate or stocks, basically), and got a divorce to make matters worse.
The icing on the cake was the seven children that Anderson had with five different women. Financial advisors tell young athletes not to have children with multiple women, since it leads to massive monthly child support payments (but Anderson must have missed that lecture.) Strangely enough, Anderson still doesn’t own the record for most children by a pro athlete.
#12 – Lenny Dykstra
Lenny Dykstra made money for himself in the real estate game after his baseball career was over. He was not a straight shooter and he went about this business in the most shady way possible. Dykstra claimed he was a high roller who knew everything about the stock game, but his only income was actually a pension from the MLB.
During bankruptcy, Dykstra also claimed that he had more than $37 million in debt and $24 million in assets. However, Dykstra was hanging onto a little more than he was saying and was arrested for bankruptcy fraud, then indicted again for selling property that the bank had already taken from him. Dykstra earned the nickname “Nails” while he was playing, which is fitting because that’s about all he can afford right now in terms of real estate.
#11 – Latrell Sprewell
Latrell Sprewell went broke despite making millions while in the NBA. Sprewell was once offered a contract north of $20 million, but turned it down when he famously said that it wouldn’t be enough to feed his family. Sounds strange, but apparently he wasn’t joking around.
After the monthly payments on his home and other luxury items like his boat, there wasn’t much left for food. When the paychecks stopped flowing in, he couldn’t make these huge payments anymore and his home was foreclosed on. It probably made P.J. Carlesimo happy, though (the coach that Sprewell choked during a game).
#10 – Lawrence Taylor
Lawrence Taylor was one of the most feared defensive players in all of NFL history. His most famous hit was perhaps when he broke Redskins’ quarterback Joe Theismann’s leg on “Monday Night Football”. It was Taylor that ended up broke after their playing careers were over.
He wasted money on drugs and prostitutes during his playing days. The drugs were for him and the prostitutes were for the visiting team to tire them out before a game. Taylor then went on to not pay his taxes and the amount he owed completely bankrupted him. These days, he still gets into hot water with the law, most notably for hiring an underage prostitute.
#9 – Johnny Unitas
Even the big stars in the earlier days of the NFL weren’t paid much, and superstar Johnny Unitas is no exception. In 1991, he filed for bankruptcy in Baltimore to avoid having his house taken away. Despite being one of the most iconic athletes in all of Maryland, the banks refused to give him a break for owing $4 million in loans.
It just goes to show you that even if you’re a recognizable figure with a flat top haircut, the banks still want their money. If Unitas were playing in today’s game, he probably would have made enough money from endorsements (a la Peyton Manning) to pay off these loans.
#8 – Dorothy Hamill
Dorothy Hamill won the hearts of many Americans after skating in the Olympics at the young age of 19. After her first husband passed away, she became married to Dr. Kenneth Forsythe. The two made the decision to buy the “Ice Capades” (the touring ice skating show that you probably remember local commercials for in your town).
The couple ended up running into big financial problems and filed for bankruptcy in 1994. As part of the filing, they had to sell their beloved “Ice Capades” show, which was eventually put out of business by the more popular “Disney On Ice”. You can thank Hamill for having to take your kids to see “Frozen On Ice” for the fifteenth time in the last year.
#7 – Jack Clark
Jack Clark was a baseball player who was a bit of a journeyman over nearly two decades. Since Clark wasn’t an amazing player, he was never paid top dollar for his skills. Despite this, he was spending cash left and right like he had an Alex Rodriguez type of contract.
The reason Clark went bankrupt is because he loved his luxury cars. He was trying to pay off almost 20 cars at once, including a Ferrari that was valued at nearly three-quarters of a million. Clark lost his house, all of his cars, and his business in the drag-racing industry. He didn’t rebound for years and still isn’t anywhere close to living the kind of life he had during his playing days.
#6 – Marion Jones
Track athletes have a hard time making money, but for rare exceptions like Marion Jones, it was easy. At Jones’ high point, she was making around $80,000 just for showing up and running a short race, but apparently it wasn’t enough.
Jones used the money from running races and endorsements from Nike to buy a mansion worth well over $2 million in North Carolina. Her career went sour when steroid allegations started piling up. She missed training sessions, then races. The legal fees also piled up when Jones was questioned for the drug use. All of a sudden, she was bankrupt and had to hand back her gold medals. Cheaters never win in the end, kids!
#5 – Derrick Coleman
In 1991, the NBA made the Syracuse star the number one pick overall and an instant millionaire. Coleman would end up being a massive $4.7 million in debt to creditors after his playing days were done. Unlike many athletes, Coleman had good intentions with his money. Coleman wanted to help rebuild a rough neighborhood in Detroit, add a few restaurants and even a hotel.
The real estate market (and just about every other market) in Detroit would continue to fail. This caused Coleman to hemorrhage money from his businesses and left him bankrupt like many others in the Motor City. Coleman had a few fancy things in his possession that were seized as part of his bankruptcy, these included; three old cars, two fur coats and a nifty Seadoo jetski.
#4 – Mark Brunell
Mark Brunell was a star with the Jaguars, a starter with the Redskins, a backup with the Saints, and a clipboard holder with the Jets. His career really declined toward the end. He still amassed $50 million as an NFL quarterback, but ended up with just $5 million to his name at the time he filed for bankruptcy.
Brunell’s love of real estate investing is what ultimately did him in, but the most notable is his love of the Whataburger franchise. The lefty quarterback ended up losing $9 million on one fast food restaurant alone. Perhaps a McDonald’s would have been a safer choice in the end. Just like his Redskins career, his financial career ended with a lot of interceptions.
#3 – Scottie Pippen
Scottie Pippen was a big name in the NBA in the 1990’s, and he earned around $120 million during his playing days. However, reports started to surface that he was broke and was filing for bankruptcy. Pippen was a little miffed when he heard these reports at first and sued CNBC for making false statements about him.
Instead of winning the case, it was thrown out since he could not prove that their allegations were false. Included in the report was a $4 million private jet that Pippen had to sell after just a few months after purchasing it. If Pippen ever needs money, he can just ask his former teammate Michael Jordan, who’s currently listed as having a net worth of $1 billion.
#2 – Antoine Walker
Antoine Walker made an incredible $110 million just for playing basketball, but had nothing left to his name within two years of retiring. Walker claimed that he established a new lifestyle while playing in the NBA and continued to live that kind of life when he was done.
Walker threw money blindly into the failing real estate market and didn’t make a return. He would also buy up nightclubs, and gamble money away at casinos. All three of these were awful ideas and forced Walker to play for leagues that nobody had ever heard of to make money (since he didn’t have many other skills).
#1 – Tony Gwynn
It’s strange to see Tony Gwynn on this list, since he was one of the most beloved figures in all of baseball. He spent his entire long career with the San Diego Padres. Gwynn even took lower deals throughout his career from the Padres as a hometown boy instead of taking bigger cash from other teams.
It really came back to haunt him when he tried to help out his agent. Gwynn co-signed on loans for his pal Lew Muller, but he defaulted quickly after trying to buy a Mercedes. Muller used Gwynn as a co-signer on a few other loans without his permission, which left Gwynn in debt. Let it be a lesson that even your buddies can screw you over when it comes to money.
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