Players and their Families.... a disturbing look.....

[NewColtsFan]

This story is about Tyrann Smith, the offensive tackle of the Dallas Cowboys....

 

Read this story and see the kind of Hell his family has put him through trying to get his money....

 

I think you'll find it very disturbing....

 

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/dallas-cowboys-lt-tyron-smith-opens-family-financial-152258519.html

 

 

This is similar to what I was told about JaMarcus Russell by someone in the Oakland Raiders organization who worked with JaMarcus.    That the family treated him like their own personal ATM.

 

At one point,  Russell was forced to call police out to his house when members of his family showed up looking for more money and JaMarcus said no.    Russell feared for his own personal safety.

 

A man 6'6" and probably 275 at the that time feared for his own safety from his own family.

 

Pretty scary stuff.    Tavon Austin has been talking about this in the past week or so....   that since he's been drafted suddenly he's been hearing from all sorts of relatives he never even knew he had until he hit it big in the NFL.    Suddenly everyone is there with their hands out.

 

Very sad.

[AllYouNeedIsLuck]

Wow I can imagine this happens to quite a few players especially given most of their backgrounds. It's quite sad for some of these players to realize they can't even trust those who should be the closest to you. Disappointing how money changes everything in our society. 

[Coltscodeblue]

Same thing happens to Lottery winners, I feel sorry to who ever wins the estimated 600 million power ball later today, if nobody hits it it'll be the biggest jockpot ever next Wednesday..... I'm not going to play, I don't want the kind of responsibility if I did win it..... Just not worth it!!!!!

 

Ok then! Well anyway, Go Colts :}

[BrentMc11]

Same thing happens to Lottery winners, I feel sorry to who ever wins the estimated 600 million power ball later today, if nobody hits it it'll be the biggest jockpot ever next Wednesday..... I'm not going to play, I don't want the kind of responsibility if I did win it..... Just not worth it!!!!!

 

Ok then! Well anyway, Go Colts :}

I would LOVE that kind of responsibility....bring on the 600 million Coltscodeblue.......and I will share it with ya!!!    Heck I would take 100,000.  I am not greedy!  

[BrentMc11]

To topic.

 

It is a crying shame that fame causes this in families...and it brings family members and 'friends' these guys never met or had not seen in years....'ode to the leaches.'  GRRRRRR!

 

Growing up with little money yet a happy family makes me feel truly blessed.  Sure money would have been nice, but Mom and Pops always had food on the table and we lived within our means.

 

I was able to retire early in my job...and I do not hesitate to give money to those in need....I love doing that.  Leaches, however like in this article who feel they somehow deserve it......NO!  

[Nadine]

that is pretty tough.......I mean your own mom and dad

[shakedownstreet]

they say money can't buy you happiness, but i'd sure be willing to give it a try 

[MAC]

I've always felt uncomfortable watching those scenes of family celebration on draft day because everyone in the room is acting as if they think they won the lottery. Those contracts aren't "that" big. Aside from the few at the very top, most of those contracts (considering the average duration of an NFL career) would require serious financial discipline just to assure that ONE person could live comfortably without working again after retirement. Either the other 27 people in the room (or the player himself, or both) likely end up seriously disappointed when all is said and done.

 

Any decent person is obviously going to "take care" of anyone that took care of them growing up. But when a person has put in countless hours of hard work trying to improve themselves and on contract day several lazy relatives show up with their hands out, you have a problem. I would bet that a significant percentage of players have broken relationships with their family over this - entirely dependent on the character of their family of course. You would hope that agents would talk to them about it ahead of time.

 

LOTTERY is an entirely different animal because it's entirely unearned. I get a bit sick when hearing people talk as if their dream is to live like Elton John with a gambling addiction if they could just win. My first thought is always about who I could share it with - from making siblings wealthy enough to retire (regardless of how well we get along) to giving surprise gifts to people who've been kind to to me over the years. Then there would be setting up a charity, etc. It would be nice to be rich, but the goal is to be happy and satisfied with what you doing with your life. Money can be a tool to that end, but it's not an end in itself, and being rich and alone is a recipe for misery - if not outright psychological problems. Football players can at least join a "fraternity" of other football players, they just have to make it through a tough period of adjustment. And this ties in to another problem we often read about - people like Kenny Britt who can't seem to stop going back home to visit their drug addled friends. Loyalty is a virtue, but use your head. Trying to bring them up is one thing, letting them bring you back down is the height of idiocy.

 

 

 

[Hans Moleman]

I really feel for Smith. I've been party to situations like this up close and personal, and it's brutal. The easy thing to say is what all the follow up threads usually do, and that's to say sayonara to everyone-  but it's easier said than done when that option may leave you with no friends/family and there's no guarantee that the new people you replace them with will be any better. Kind of like how they hire professional, licensed financial advisers with clean records that were referred to them, only for that clean, licensed pro to screw them over, too.

 

For as much as spending stupidly empties the bank accounts of some guys, there's as many or more players that go broke because of dilemmas like that where people instead see and treat them like walking check books. Their entire job- their livelihood- revolves around finding ways to part you from your $$$. Sometimes the thief's in a 3 piece suit and all the certifications to sell you that he's legit, other times, it's your family. Combine that with having to pay post-career medical bills with cash because insurance won't cover it, and it's no shocker so many of these guys wind up with nothing.

[Earthman]

Just watched "30 for 30: Broke". Documentary that discusses this issue along with other financial problems pro athletes deal with that often lead to bankruptcy. Definitely worth watching