Vince Young is broke, and just filed for bankruptcy--and people are wondering, what did he spend it on?
Young was paid $34 million in six NFL seasons. He hasn’t appeared in a regular season game since 2011.
Details are a bit sketchy, but Ed Butowsky, a Dallas financial adviser who contributed to an ESPN Films documentary about the money woes of pro athletes, told the Houston Chronicle that there were three main factors.
“(Young) invested in private, illiquid investments, and he overspent. He’s ultimately responsible for all his decisions, but the people around him should have taken better care of him," Butowsky said.
“You should never equate trust with capability. My wife trusts me, but she’s not going to let me do her dental work.”
NFL players, as well as other pro athletes, struggle with the reality of having immense riches during their careers but not keeping some for when they’re done playing.
“When you’re making money, you think it’s going to last forever,” former NFL quarterback Sean Salisbury told the Chronicle. “This doesn’t make him a bad person. It makes him a person who was misled, who expected the money would last longer and who probably made some bad decisions along the way.”
Salisbury was one of the players featured in the documentary, “broke,” and described spending more than $100,000 a month on a credit card during his career.
“It happens. You take your lumps and learn from it,” he said. “I’ve had to sleep in my truck (because of money woes) I get it. I feel awful for him and anyone who goes through this.”
Young played for the Tennessee Titans for five seasons, then played for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011.
Young has actually been struggling financially for years, with stories about his woes coming out in early 2012.
Young was suing his advisers at the time, it was reported, claiming that they led him astray. They, on the other hand, said that he approved every deal.
Young spent $5,000 per week at Cheesecake Factory during his rookie season, according to other reports in 2012. He once paid $6,000 at a T.G.I. Fridays. He paid a kid $200 to haul his luggage at the airport. And he would do $600 shots of Remy Martin at Morton’s after games.
An adviser reportedly once said that Young once got a loan to throw himself a $300,000 party.
In mid-2013 Young was ordered to auction off assets to pay a $1.7 million judgement from a high-risk loan that Young took out during the 2011 lockout.
He defaulted on the loan, prompting the form that loaned him the money, Pro Player Funding, to take him to court.
Constables visited Young’s home in Houston to take an inventory of his possessions, with many likely going to auction, KHOU reported. The former University of Texas star was allowed to keep $60,000 in personal property off the table as exemptions, but the rest could go up for sale at a public auction.
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