Professional Athletes and Money

On June 23rd, 2006, former  NFL players sued the National Football League Players' Association (NFLPA) and the National Football League for endorsing an investment plan that turned out to be a scam, losing around 20 million dollars for the seven players involved. The players involved, including former safeties Blaine Bishop and Steve Atwater, have claimed that the scam did not bankrupt them but certainly harms their future ability to provide for their families on what should have been sufficient savings from their playing careers. The NFL and NFLPA claims that the players should have spoke with them first before a lawsuit was brought but at present it seems that the NFL has been exposed a bit for exploiting its assets and they are back pedaling a bit in order to cushion the blow from other players and fans. The question is whether or not the NFL should be blamed for what its players have done or if they should be accountable for every failed investment plan that they give to players, many of whom have millions of dollars earned in their career.

The investment plan involved a hedge fund run by Kirk Wright, an investment banker out of Southern Florida. The NFL and NFLPA endorsed this investment plan and ensured players that Wright was above board and fully licensed as an investment broker. In the end, however, the investment plan failed miserably and the seven invested players lost a significant amount of money. As well, Wright has lost money for at least 500 investors in the last decade and much of the invested money is lost or missing. Wright was arrested in May 2006 on charges by the SEC of fraud. Considering the background of Wright and the importance of investing for many of the leagues players, it would seem that the NFL is at fault here for not doing thorough research.