It’s a commonly known fact that many pro athletes go broke in just few short years after retiring from their respective sports. In fact, Sports Illustrated Magazine has estimated that 80% of NFL players go bankrupt in their first three years of retirement. That’s right: in three years, four out of five retired NFL players are bankrupt.
A couple years ago, Forbes Magazine published an article giving some explanations as to why this trend occurs. To summarize the article, they essentially argue that widespread bankruptcy of retired NFL players can be attributed to five main factors:
- Lack of experience with financial planning
- The need to financially support family members and friends
- Divorce and associated legal fees
- Not understanding how quickly careers can end
- Lack of preparation for a second career
The article also provides some recommendations to players should do to prepare for the transition to post-football life, and I agree with the majority of the article. What I disagree with, however, is that players don’t understand that any given play can be career-ending. In fact, I think the fact that so many players are aware of this fact is a key problem in the NFL’s concussion crisis. It incentivizes them to play through concussions, literally risking their lives, in order to maintain financial stability.
In her book Throwaway Players, Gay Culverhouse, former president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Culverhouse mentions that the average career of an NFL player lasts only four seasons (I will be writing a review on Throwaway Players soon). It’s a common adage that NFL really stands for “not for long,” and for every player that has a career that last a decade or longer, there is another player that got cut as a rookie. Because of these short careers, Culverhouse argues, even when ignoring the passion that players have for the game or the commitment they have to their teams, it makes economical sense that a player will continue to play through injuries, such as concussions, because he knows that he only has a limited amount of time to earn money for himself and his family before his career is over.
Of course, it’s easy to point out problems and much harder to find solutions to them. As the Forbes article mentions, the NFL Player’s Association (NFLPA, essentially the players’ labor union), has programs for NFL players on financial education and has referrals to recommended financial planners. These efforts are valuable, and hopefully will only grow as awareness of NFL player bankruptcy increases. I think what is also important is strengthening the health insurance that the NFL provides retired players.
Much of Culverhouse book centers around what can be done to help former players dealing with injuries, especially TBI, who are unable to reenter the workforce after retiring from the NFL. As I said earlier, I will be writing a review of this book soon, so stay tuned.
Link to Forbes article:
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