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How Did NFL Quarterback, Vince Young, Go Broke?
By JLP | September 20, 2012
This kind of stuff saddens me: How did Vince Young end up broke?
A 20-year-old model embarking on an NFL career is doomed to fail if he does not have the right people around him. Family is not the right people, no matter how good or loving or well-intentioned they are.
Further…
I once asked former NFL coach Bill Parcells what his advice to players was regarding money. He was always meddling in their business, calling them into his office and giving advice too few listened to. What he told them was to bank that signing bonus for a year, live on only one game check, then after a year live on the interest from the bonus.
He said few players listened.
So many of these young kids have no financial sense and then are given these massive contracts and they simply don’t know how to handle themselves. Add to that the fact that there are lots of “experts” out there willing to “help” these young kids for a fee. It’s all a game, people.
All that work, sacrifice, beating the odds to make it to the professional level, and then you lose it all because of bad decisions.
Topics: Financial Planning, Miscellaneous | 5 Comments »
September 20th, 2012 at 11:36 am
Shaquille O’Neal just put out a (co-written) autobiography (called Shaq Uncut), which, while entertaining in a variety of axes, also discusses how he was lucky/smart enough to actually listen to people about what to do with his money (while still, let us be clear, blowing a *lot* of cash on some very fancy toys). However, there is one anecdote in the book that has had me laughing for months now, which is printed here : http://stevenlebron.com/post/21162318539/house-money?603cdcd0 (Lester in the clip is his accountant). I think that sums up very well how challenging it can be to deal with money, and what “having money” means when you come from a background where you didn’t!
September 20th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Anna,
Thanks for sharing that! That is awesome!
September 20th, 2012 at 1:11 pm
Financial stupidity and meltdowns are not just the province of eltie athletes.
Athletes fascinate us because their train wrecks are usually large and happen so quickly. Yet many of the exact same things befall us regular folks…just on a smaller scale and in slow-motion, comparatively speaking.
Certainly the financial services industry produces its share of bad advice, products, and charlatans to take our money but at the same time many of us are more than willing to point a gun at our feet and fire away.
September 20th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
These kids come from nothing and are all of the sudden given millions of dollars. They don’t know what to do with it besides spend it all. It’s an extremely unfortunate situation.
September 21st, 2012 at 7:28 am
JLP – absolutely welcome! When I first read the story, I totally thought it was going to be something like “my cousin Tommy has the money, I know all about it”, and then the ending took me very much by surprise.