I’m not totally discounting the impacts of taxes and agent fees. They hurt, no question. But that’s not the problem here. The problem in these cases is that when they get that 20 mil year, they view it the same way an average person views making their first increase in salary—like it’s sustainable, possibly even likely to grow with time. History shows that it simply isn’t, especially in the NFL, and most notably at his position. So whatever a RB makes in a single year, it should be treated as if that’s what they’ll make in their entire career, because it very well could be. You’re not a 30 year old CEO with the next great company you can run over the next 25-30 years. You’re a depreciating asset with an expiration date, nothing more. Even the best, most injury free NFL player doesn’t sustain a major salary the way an average person does, and it’s usually in considerable decline post-30. So to the others’ points, that money, despite taxes and costs, should last you a lifetime.
It also doesn’t help that you have a completely self inflicted expense of children. Most successful people have 1-3 with the same woman, to whom they’re typically married. Having an unknown amount(5-7 is speculation) from different women demanding child support at an appropriate level based on current income, would kill just about anyone. It’s a cultural problem that shows its head again and again. Thinking that you can thumb your nose at convention at make your own rules is what creates situations like this. He had a chance to change his family’s future forever. Instead, he chose to create a bunch of satellite bills he cannot pay for, who instead of growing up in a solid, stable environment, will probably end up in a similar position to where he started...100 million dollars later. Ridiculous.
