It's a widely published statistic that 78% of NFL players will go bankrupt within the first 5 years of leaving the league. It sounds impossible - and when you think about how much money players actually make, it becomes completely unbelievable, but the horrible thing is that it's kinda proving itself to be accurate.
It's not just a case of 'young kid, all the money in the world' either - while poor financial control and overspending is a large contributing factor to former NFL players going broke, sometimes it's the players that seem to have their heads screwed on tightest that lose it all to irresponsible investments by their financial managers, uncontrollable market downturns or mountains of legal fees.
The NFL has been criticised in the past for neglecting former players over a huge range of situations - from refusing to cover healthcare, to not accepting it's role in injuries sustained in-play, and as of late, (and with Vince Young being the latest in a long line of former stars to fall to bankruptcy), the question of players' financial awareness and what the league can do to improve it has been brought up more and more. For someone to earn this much money once and lose it is a bit of a travesty - for it to happen year on year is evidence of a system failing.
So without further ado, lets take a look at 10 of the biggest NFL stars that went flat broke (in ascending order of losses).
10. Michael Vick - Career Earnings: $130m
Vick's amassed wealth was decimated by the discovery of his active involvement in funding and sustaining a dog fighting ring. When it came out that he had personally bankrolled the ring, he was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment.
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During his trial it was revealed that on top of his involvement with dog fighting, he had also spent $18m in one year, supporting a close circle of friends and his wider entourage. The rest of his fortune was eaten up in legal fees and fines, and in 2008, he filed for bankruptcy, citing a debt of $50m and outstanding loan amounts upwards of $2m.
Vick's actions were despicable, but he was lucky enough to get a second chance - eventually securing a 6 year, $100m contract with The Eagles following his release - getting himself out of the bankruptcy ditch.