We all read the newspapers, and we all know how much high-level professional athletes are paid.  But underneath those oversized paychecks and oversized bodies, many of these men struggle with debt just like the rest of us.   Sometimes the issue is a lack of self-control (“

[After being released] I had an injury settlement for $60,000.  Six of it my ex-wife got in child support. . .I take the $54,000 I have. . .and paid $50,000 cash for a Hummer, because I had to have it.”).  Other times, the problem is a little closer to home (“Family and friends, they stick it to you more than anybody.”).

One final commonality is the relief that bankruptcy can bring (“The bankruptcy stuff has been a blessing in disguise.  When people don’t think you have money, they don’t call you as much.”).[1]

While most of us aren’t looking for relief from handout-seeking kinfolk, bankruptcy can and will bring you relief from debt.  Chapter 7 erases unsecured debt, while Chapter 13 helps you restructure your debt.  In either case, that athlete can probably still keep the Hummer that “he had to have”.

[1] The disturbing thing about this quote is that people still call and ask this athlete for money, but they just don’t call “as much”.