Football’s Financial Follies

Are you ready for some football?!

It's crunch time for the professional football season. The play-off picture is shaping up, although our hometown Rams have had better seasons (understatement of the year!).

What does football have to do with your credit union? Personal finances, of course! While most of us can’t begin to imagine life with the salary of professional athletes, we can see that they have many of the same financial problems we do, just on a much grander financial scale. It’s true. Just take a look at a few NFL players and former players who’ve had a tough time with finances for various reasons.

John Elway—Former NFL quarterback
Elway had highlight-reel success on the gridiron, but not so much in the financial field. He and a business partner lost $15 million in 2010 when they invested funds with a hedge-fund manager who was later charged in a Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme (made notorious in 1920 by Charles Ponzi), is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation.

Deuce McAllister—Former NFL running back
Dulymus Jenod “Deuce” McAllister invested in a post-football-career Nissan car dealership. In 2009, as the U.S. economy hit rock bottom, so did the dealership. Nissan wound up suing him for the return of vehicles, and the dealership filed for bankruptcy. The former running back couldn’t juke the losses of $5.7 million.

Mark Brunell—Former NFL quarterback
Mr. Brunell was sacked by not one failed business venture, but two. He filed for bankruptcy after a real estate development company called Champion LLC failed. He was also involved in a bad investment with a dozen Whataburger restaurant franchises in Jacksonville, Florida. Total losses on those two mistakes: $7.4 million.

Drew Bledsoe—Former NFL quarterback
Bledsoe and six other current/former NFL players were duped into investing in a start-up company called Pay by Touch that was developing the technology to allow consumers to pay for things using a thumbprint rather than a credit card. Trouble was, the founder of the company had a past criminal and civil misconduct record as well as tax evasion charges. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2007 after losing $137 million. No word on the amount of money lost by Mr. Bledsoe and the others.

Dez Bryant—Current NFL wide receiver
Mr. Bryant fell prey to a situation many of us can relate to...even with a rich contract, he lived beyond his means. Two jewelers have filed suit against the wide receiver for unpaid jewelry, spring tickets and loans...to the tune of $800,000.


So you see, it doesn’t matter how much money you make, anyone can have missteps with his/her funds. The key is to be judicious with your decisions. If you’re having trouble making sound financial decisions and could use some help, remember that Vantage offers members free financial education and counseling services through Accel.

If you’d like some suggestions on investment options, talk to a professional at the Vantage Investment Services Group. Call 314.264.5350 for a complimentary financial analysis.