Troy Roberts The Financial Rise and Ruin of the nfl athlete: Evaluation

The Financial Rise and Ruin of the NFL Athlete: Evaluation

In America today, there is one sport that reigns supreme. That sport is Football. The NFL currently is the highest grossing sport in the United States, and it is by a large margin at that. In fact, according to Forbes Magazine, the National Football League made over $9 Billion Dollars in 2013, and Forbes estimates that by the year 2027, the NFL will have $27 Billion dollars a year in annual revenues. With the success of the league, comes success of the players. Much is made of the NFL player’s salary, as Forbes estimates that the average player makes $1.9 Million dollars per year, as compared to the Middle Class American, who makes about $51,000 per year. How is it then, that with their significantly higher income, according to surveys done by the NFL, 78% of their retired athletes, are bankrupt within 5 years of retirement.

In the 2001 NFL draft, the Atlanta Falcons had their eyes set on the standout product from Virginia Tech University. Michael Vick was an outstanding athlete, and pro scouts couldn’t wait to get their hands on a player that could completely change the course of a game. After drafting Vick, the two sides agreed to a $62 million dollar contract, plus a $15 Million dollar signing bonus over six years. In 2004, the Atlanta Falcons signed Michael Vick to a 10 year, $130 Million dollar contract. This deal now made Vick the highest paid player in the National Football League. But that wasn’t the end of Vick’s good fortune. After playing his rookie season, Michael Vick was approached by Coca Cola, Hasbro, Nike, and Kraft, for endorsement deals. Vick’s jersey sales continued to rise. By 2005 he was consistently the second highest selling jersey in the NFL. By 2005, Forbes Magazine ranked Vick the 4^th Highest paid Athlete in the world, bringing in $37.5 million dollars per year.

Michael quickly rose to the top of the NFL. In July 2007, however, Vick was brought to court on charges that he had participated in, as well as run a dogfighting ring. In August of 2007 the NFL suspended Vick indefinitely for his role in this crime, and in December of 2007, he was found guilty, and admitted to US Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. Eventually Vick pled guilty, and was sentenced to 1 year in a federal prison. Due to this behavior, Michael lost all his endorsement deals. His spending habits however, did not change. After serving just 7 months in federal prison, Vick filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, listing debts from $10-$50 million dollars.

Michael Vick, the NFL’s highest paid player was broke, within 7 months of being out of the NFL. After taking a look at the amounts of money he gave to his family, you start to understand why, according to his biography, Vick claims he bought his little brother, Marcus, a new car every year on his birthday. For his mother, Brenda, he bought her a 7,800 square foot mansion. In a September 2008, in a bankruptcy hearing, Vick stated that in that month he had paid $31,293.87 on various mortgages, cars, clothes, private schools, and other expenses for a circle of 30 friends. At the time of his arrest Vick confirmed that he was paying for 123 different cell phone bills for colleagues, friends, and family. Unfortunately for Vick, his bad spending habits didn’t end at simply paying bills for friends and family. Vick gave his friend Charlie Reamon a job as his “Financial Handler”, and personal assistant. Another friend Adam Harris was hired by Vick to be his personal representative with his then sponsor, Nike.

Vick had more problems than just his family, and friends waiting to accept his money any way that they could. Vick was also plagued with a series of bad investments. In 2006, Vick invested $40,000 into a janitorial company run by one of his friends that was quickly left destitute, losing Vick his whole investment. This was not the only losses that he experienced on the investment front. Vick lost $150,000 on an airport medical service company, as well as another $827,000 that he lost investing in two wine bars that eventually went under. He lost another 1.4 million dollars on an investment into a car rental business. The list goes on and on. Vick lost millions every year on one bad investment after another.

Michael Vick’s story is one of hundreds. These athletes are set up to fail in our current system. The average NFL athlete is drafted between the ages of 18-22. College athletes are taken from an average individual, to an millionaire overnight. According to the NFL, less than half of their players currently have a 4 year college degree. When you take a college athlete, or student for that matter, and give them these huge amounts of money, without the proper education, do we give them a fair chance to secure their future? We are so eager to see them play, and witness their abilities, do we stop to think how we can help them succeed both on, and off the field?