To Phillip Buchanon’s mother, it came down to about a buck a reason.
Seems fair, right?
One of the juiciest tidbits of the recent book by Buchanon, the former Buc cornerback, was that on the day he was the 17th overall pick by the Raiders, Buchanon’s mother asked him for $1 million for raising him.
With the NFL draft just in front of us, it is a telling glimpse into the financial struggles that many athletes face as they enter professional athletics. Kids, often ill-equipped to handle such riches, can have millions of dollars thrust upon them, and often it is accompanied by hundreds of outstretched palms. There are agents and advisers and hangers-on.
Oh, yeah, and there are games.
For the athlete, it can create another set of pressures. Who to give what? How much? How far do you extend the generosity?
“I have many examples, but I’m not going to name names,’’ said former Bears’ general manager Jerry Angelo. “How players handle their time and money has a lot to do with their careers.
“It’s what they don’t have in college and have a lot of in the NFL. It’s a shame, but a documented fact. That’s why drafting is more than projecting talent. You are also projecting character and unfortunately there is no crystal ball that can foresee everything.”
Buchanon told his story in his new book New Money: Staying Rich.
“If my mother taught me anything,’’ Buchanon writes, “it’s that this is the most desperate demand a parent can make on a child.
“My mother had said my debt to her was a million before. But this time, she was more serious than ever. If you do the math, $1 million divided by 18 years was approximately $55,555.55 a year.’’
Another athlete, Tyron Smith, recently told ESPN the Magazine about trying to buy a house for his mother. They had agreed on $300,000. The one they wanted was $800,000.
According to an article by Sports Illustrated, 78 percent of NFL players are bankrupt or in financial stress two years after retirement. Within five years of retirement, 60 percent of NBA players are broke.
Warren Sapp went bankrupt. Lawrence Taylor went bankrupt. Bernie Kosar went bankrupt. Michael Vick. Lenny Dykstra. Tony Gwynn. Dan Marino lost millions.
In other words, it doesn’t last forever, and it is seldom as big as it seems.
There is a lesson here for the athlete.
There is a lesson here for the rest of us, too.
