NFL Star Brett Favre (Photo : Facebook)
One in every six National Football League players files for bankruptcy within 12 years of retirement, according to a research by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
It turns out that earnings during a player's career or the career span are not the factors that are responsible for a bankruptcy. Star players are just as likely to file for bankruptcy as those who spent most of their time on the bench, according to CNN Money.
Players with medium career span can earn up to $3.2 million in NFL salary, but 15.7 percent of the player declared themselves bankrupt within a span of 12 years. Terrell Owens, a six-time pro bowler who was drafted in 1996, made an estimated $80 million during his NFL career which spanned for 15 seasons and filed for bankruptcy in 2012, according to CNBC.
The study also says that players should save enough money to keep them financially stable after their relatively small career ends. Many players engage in risky investments and deplete their savings, a lot of them go broke due to financial strain unemployment and divorce.
The National Football League Players Association started a financial wellness program six years ago to prepare players for a lockout by league owners, which started happening in 2011. The program offers an online financial learning and fund management, phone-based money management helpline and since last year financial assessment NFL players.
The current NFL minimum salary is $435,000 a year for a rookie and $970,000 for a player with nine or more years in the league. But contracts are not renewed on a regular basis unlike Major League Baseball or the National Basketball Association. This means players can lose their money when their expired contracts are not renewed.
NFL careers have a short span and do not go a little above three years and due to the punishing nature of the sport careers get cut short due to physical injuries, and this also limits the chances of getting employed after a playing career.
