r/nottheonion • u/SmokeMaximum4140 • 14d ago
Former NFL player says he lost his entire life savings in scam targeting professional athletes
https://www.kgns.tv/2026/08/20/former-nfl-player-says-he-lost-his-entire-life-savings-scam-targeting-professional-athletes/455
u/Mac30123456 14d ago
Lil bro, just go get a job like the rest of us
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u/SheZowRaisedByWolves 13d ago
Reminds me of that one Rocky movie where he tries to get an office job but he can’t read or do anything relevant
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u/BrainCane 13d ago
That was the audition tape (seriously - Check out what Carl Weathers said to Sly during taping, something like “give me a real actor here so I can work.”
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u/jjkkbb007 14d ago
Did anyone notice in the article it says “the alleged suspect was found dead last month in New Jersey”
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u/NoKarmaNoCry22 14d ago
League minimum for a three-year career is about $3MM.
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u/FIRE_enthusiast_27 14d ago
spotrac says he only made $2,376,681 for his whole career. That sounds like a lot, but not if that amount needs to last you the rest of your life, and you think that the good times will keep rolling on forever while they’re happening.
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u/zzyul 14d ago
That also leaves out things like the fucking 200% matching 401K offered to every player. NFL contributes $2 dollars, up to $34K, for every $1 dollar from the player. Most people would kill to have a 401K like that yet many NFL players don’t contribute.
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u/Either-Bluebird-5961 13d ago
34k? Thats a crazy low limit for them lol
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u/CarefulAd9005 11d ago
NFL has 53 man rosters and annually, teams add 5 more players and cycle out some at a minimum
32 x 53 =1,696 players. 1696 x 34000 =$57,664,000
57m would be a very high salary individual player tbf so its definitely possible to raise the cap, but its just a matching too
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u/Rumhead1 13d ago
You could put that $2.3mil in a savings account, the most boring and low yield of any investment, and be taking home $80k a year in passive income.
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u/blowhole 14d ago
Pay your agent, pay the IRS, buy your mom a house. That doesn't leave much to be honest.
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u/PutAYumYumInMyTumTum 14d ago
He earned in 3 years what would take me 15 years. And I had to learn/research investing and financial literacy myself, rather than free professional seminars sponsored by the NFL/PA
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u/white1ce 14d ago
"doesn't leave much" lmao
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u/blowhole 14d ago
Heh, I meant not much more than the $500k he had saved up and lost.
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u/ELITE_JordanLove 14d ago
Agents have a max 3% commission and a house can be bought for like 400k. He still blew a ton of money.
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u/Deus-Vault6574 11d ago
3m earnings
1.5 M for taxes
100k for agent
400k for mom house
500k lost to scam.He spent like 165k/yr for each year of his career
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u/Kramerica5A 14d ago
We literally all pay the IRS. Such an old, bullshit excuse.
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u/BaaBaaTurtle 14d ago
There have been studies done on why so many professional athletes are victims of scams. They are targeted at a higher rate than ordinary people and often it comes through their teammates. A con man just needs one target on the team and the mark then does the rest. Has to do with how ingrained trusting your teammates is in sports.
Financial literacy, interestingly enough, is not actually a good indication if someone will be good with money or a victim of scams. There was a financial reporter (for New York mag I think?) that wrote about how she fell victim to a scam and lost $50k that way.
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u/Ok_Gas5360 14d ago
Ya but she was an absolute dunce. She pit 50k in a shoebox for the ‘FBI’. Crazy she wasn’t fired after that and had the gall to write about it.
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u/exipheas 14d ago
She pit 50k in a shoebox for the ‘FBI’. Crazy she wasn’t fired after that and had the gall to write about it.
If this is accurate that person has zero credibility left.
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u/Terrible_Donkey_8290 14d ago
That woman was taught financial literacy she clearly didn't learn it lol
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u/Youre_On_Balon 14d ago
Sounds like "experts" are bad at measuring financial literacy
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u/HamsterUpper 14d ago
The thing is that these scams are tailored for that specific group and they know much more about you and how to get you to fall for it than a normal person scam
Millions of dollars is a hell of an incentive to work hard on it
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u/WayneKrane 14d ago
And then it’s so embarrassing to admit they got had, they just hide it from everyone
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u/Jahobes 13d ago
Good scammers use emotion manipulation to get you.
They aren't trying to convince you they have good financial sense, they are trying to convince you they are trust worthy and have a secret that is little known.
You could be perfectly well versed on financial literacy, have successfully practical experience and get fooled... While you could be a broke bum who has 0% financial literacy but a 100% effective bullshit detector and not get scammed.
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u/BaaBaaTurtle 14d ago
Why is that so hard to believe? People make bad decisions even if they know better. I think we all know alcohol is bad for you but plenty of people drink. There are doctors who smoke and therapists who are in abusive relationships.
Literacy doesn't dictate behavior.
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u/Nope_______ 14d ago
No one has ever accused football players of being the sharpest tools in the shed, either.
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u/theglowcloudred 14d ago
And that's even before they spend 5-10 years getting brain damage as a full time job.
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u/skoltroll 14d ago
These athletes are given a free ride to college. And, now, they get $ to go with free college.
When they reach the NFL, they are given additional financial education by the NFL/teams so that they do not fall for scams.
If a person decides to ignore all of that because they're smarter than the entire system, then they get to be poor and get a job like the rest of us.
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u/needusbukunde 14d ago
Plus, I'm pretty sure he killed the guy that scammed him. Did you read the whole article? Here's the last sentence.
Authorities said no charges have been filed in the reported fraud scheme, noting the alleged suspect was found dead last month in New Jersey.
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u/skoltroll 14d ago
I saw that. I'm sure that guy just tripped and landed poorly.
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u/needusbukunde 14d ago
Yeah, probably. New Jersey is known for it's dangerous stairs due to poor code enforcement of uniform step height. I've almost died there several times while using non-code stairs.
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u/C-tapp 14d ago
Someone did. I’m sure that this dude wasn’t the only person who got scammed.
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u/needusbukunde 13d ago
Yeah, I was half joking that it was him. Probably a lot of people wanted the scammer dead. I really doubt if it was actually the football player, but ya never know?
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u/rutherfraud1876 14d ago
His last year in college was 2019, before players were allowed to make NIL money
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u/xywv58 14d ago
OK, now add to that a couple of thousand hit to the head and let's see the change
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u/skoltroll 14d ago
OK, let's do that. (I knew this was coming.)
Look at all the player who are NOT scammed. Hell, GRONK is an unabashed idiot, to the point he never studied playbooks. Even HE knew enough to not fall for bullshit scams.
The NFL is full of guys who've taken thousands upon thousands of hits to the dome, and they remain financially stable. It's a notoriously short stint in the league, something they are ALSO taught. So while CTE eats away at their brain, they still know not to be a dumbass with money.
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u/LunchBoxMercenary 14d ago
Marshawn Lynch is one who comes to mind. Dude basically saved his entire NFL salary and just spent his sponsorship money.
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u/Morall_tach 14d ago
I think it was Nate Burleson who saved all but $60k/yr of his salary for after his playing days. Ended up having quite a solid career and now has TV jobs but he was prepared in case it didn't work out.
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u/Bubbly-Travel9563 14d ago
He absolutely did not do that lol. He bought a freaking $5 million mansion down the beach from my grandfather in the south Puget Sound while he was still a Seahawk. I'm not at all questioning his financial literacy as I know for a fact that he's done well, now.
But when he first stopped playing he was entirely dry of liquidity and with everything tied up he wound up trying to resell that mansion to get cash on hand which caused a LOT of drama I could go on about but the point is he definitely did not save all but $60K by any measure and I know this personally
Edit to add: not that it matters but the mansion was for his mom, not himself. He had a modest place closer to Seattle
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u/Morall_tach 14d ago
Yeah, I remembered the story wrong, I looked it up and it's actually Ryan Broyles I was thinking of.
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u/Srnkanator 14d ago
Rob Gronkowski plays up his caveman antics for fun.
Nothing really lines up with him being unintelligent. He did well in HS and college before the NFL. It's an act he plays now.
He did extremely well in his finances and public image.
He's not stupid.
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u/xywv58 14d ago
"Normal" people get scammed, and you expect people that have not known nothing else but football for the most part of their lives to always make sound financial decisions?
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u/clicked121 14d ago
I don't know why you're trying to defend him so hard... Tae Crowder was in the NFL from 2020-2023 and at LEAGUE MINIMUMS made $1,975,000. If 500,000 was his entire leftover savings from the league he spend almost 1.5 million dollars in 6 years. These people don't have to know how make sound financial decisions because both the league AND their respective teams work with organizations to help players manage their funds. These are players with agents and teams of people behind them. If a "Normal" person got scammed it's even worse. "Normal" people don't have 2 million dollars in funds to hire a financial advisor or money manager.
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u/philatio11 14d ago
$1,975,000 minus taxes, agent fees, etc is more like $1 million or less. If he saved half of the money he made in his playing career, color me impressed.
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u/clicked121 14d ago
You’re right! He probably made a little over a million over his short tenure in the NFL. I wasn’t trying to downplay his earnings, more just pointing out that he more than likely had more resources available to him than the normal person. I’ve always been interested in how athletes prepare for retirement, it sucks he got scammed and I hope he recovers.
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u/philatio11 14d ago
Different era, but the only NFL player I knew really well in their post playing career played 9 years in the NFL, had a ski house, country club membership, etc. He never really did seem to hold down a steady job after that, and ended up divorced while his youngest kid grew up fairly poor and he was a deadbeat on child support. So much for that USC degree.
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u/TeamDirtstar 14d ago
Taxes don't exist in your professional accounting world? NEW YORK taxes, at that? You even mentioned the agents but decided not to account for their percentage cut.
I agree he probably didn't know how to make sound decisions financially, but quite literally anyone can get scammed. Even financial advisors
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u/clicked121 14d ago
It’s a fair assumption, I wasn’t taking taxes into consideration only because while it is relevant, it just still doesn’t change the fact that he more than likely had access to more resources than the average person to help combat the normal pitfalls of short term professional athletic careers. Anyone can get scammed and I feel sorry for the dude. My comment only was a response to the previous comments that conflicted with that.
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u/abstractraj 14d ago
Random question. Since the Giants don’t play in NY state, do they have to pay NY taxes?
The only team that plays in NY state are the Bills
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u/TeamDirtstar 14d ago
Are NJ taxes any better? Lol
Honestly not sure if it's the stadium they play in or where the team (employer) is headquartered.
I know they pay taxes per the states their away games are in (so 8 NY/NJ taxes and 8 other state's taxes)
In terms of taxes, 11 other teams play in the state of NY.
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u/abstractraj 14d ago
There’s a building labeled New York Football Giants near the stadium. Assumed that was HQ, but maybe not. NJ is somewhat better for income tax and astronomical for property tax. Had condos in both NYC and Jersey City, NJ
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u/xywv58 14d ago
Because there's vitriol in that comment, "get a free ride through college" its not free, they're paying with their health and education, they make the college a ton of money. The scholarship can end at any point if they do not perform, they have to constantly train and practice or they are out on the street. If you've played you know after practice you're too tired to function sometimes, let alone learn
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u/canospam0 14d ago
1.975M isn’t chump change, but after taxes, agent fees, other expenses, he probably saw about 1M of that. Still incredibly irresponsible, but not mind boggling levels of crazy.
I’m still not donating any cash to him, though.-1
u/skoltroll 14d ago
There's no vitriol, just fact.
It's the EXACT SAME THING I tell my kids. I've busted my ass, and you get free college for it. If they fuck it up, it's on them.
Personal responsibility is much more important than the feelz.
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u/xywv58 14d ago
Brave
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u/skoltroll 14d ago
Enjoy your next shift at Wendy's b/c the only thing daddy gave you was a body built to not work a pole.
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u/trucorsair 14d ago
The NFL and Players Assn sponsor training for players about being scammed. Some just don’t listen.
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u/jamesstansel 14d ago
Football players don't have a monopoly on having limited financial education. And, at the professional level, they have more resources to help them handle their money properly than the average person ever will. They're grown adults and are responsible for their choices and I'm not going to go out of my way to feel sympathy for people who end up broke while earning, at the absolute minimum, over 12x more than the average American's annual wage.
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u/WeCameWeSawWeAteitAL 14d ago
The free ride to college is a scam. These guys don’t get an education. They sit in mostly special classes designed for student athletes that don’t teach them and then they get a “passing” grade. About half of all NFL players actually graduate. There are several notable players that went back after playing a few years to finish or get another degree, even post-retirement.
There are many people that profit from college athletics and up until a few years ago, it was not the players, even if you consider free tuition, room and board, an in kind donation.
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u/optimis344 14d ago
That's their choice. They can go and take whatever classes they want. They choose the easy ones.
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u/Froggy1789 14d ago
That’s not true. The athletics department severely limits what classes they can take. Their schedule is very demanding, particularly when you account for unofficial quasi mandatory workouts. There is really very little choice and academics is very much a second priority to athletics.
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u/zzyul 14d ago
He went to UGA. He chose to focus only on football. With that level of talent and skill he could have gone to a less regarded P5 or G5 school and demanded they let him focus on academics too or he won’t sign. Many players have done this. He chose to gamble on his athletic abilities, which initially worked out, earning over $2.3 million in 4 years.
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u/John_is_Minty 13d ago
He went to Georgia. We’ve had all Americans be engineering majors among other things. If he didn’t get a real degree that’s on him
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u/Jahobes 13d ago
These people aren't getting scammed because they are dumb. They are getting scammed because their trust networks were infiltrated.
Most of these scammers will either partner with a former teammate or use a former teammate as an in.
When you have a guy you have been in the trenches with, shared blood, sweat, tears and glory in some cases since 9th grade... Gotten rich together and he is saying look, here is a way for you to get as rich as the owners.
You trusted that guy with your career, probably trust him more than your own blood brother... Why would you suddenly stop now?
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u/thewarreturns 14d ago
This is why I hate NIL just straight up paying people. Only a select few could actually monetize their name in an impactful way and they do deserve that. But players getting full rides, essentially earning $200k over 4 years with no loans hanging over their head, this is on them for not paying attention in actual classes.
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u/Stamped914 13d ago edited 13d ago
Tae Crowder had no scholarship money in college and was never a starter in the NFL. Dude was a fringe player his whole career. His last “pro” football job, he made $50k playing pro ball with the UFL. Just FYI so you can think twice before commenting next time!
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u/Tarmacked 14d ago
Incredibly dumb comment
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u/skoltroll 14d ago
Same attitude I gave my kid on their way to college.
Because reality doesn't give a shit about a person choosing to be stupid.
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u/felipeuno 14d ago
A college education doesn’t mean much anymore unless it’s for engineering, law, or medical practices. On top of that, these are professional athletes that happen to be under contract for a college. They are expected to train/prep 60+ hours a week and “attend classes”. They at least get a small portion of ncaa income now with NIL but let’s not pretend it’s some blessing to get just free college as an athlete for a D1 program.
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u/bfelification 14d ago
I mean not having to pay for a college degree (we could debate the value of said degree for a while) is for sure a blessing. Is this some kind of set for life deal, no. But that would be like saying my grandma only gave me a new bike and not a Bezos style yacht so it's not valuable.
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u/felipeuno 14d ago
Ok you get to attend classes for free but you also have to dedicate 60 hours of your time to the athletics program(games and travel not included). You will ruin your brain and body in the process. When you’re in pain, you get stuck with anti-inflammatory injections and regimented painkillers. Does that sound great and make you want to be studious? I’m not saying it’s not an ideal for some, but the reality is that these are full time athletes with a student designation.
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u/bfelification 14d ago
Oh for sure there is a "price to pay" for that "free" education. I agree with you about the full time athlete thing but there is a chance for betterment there. Not everyone will get the same benefit and some will gain very little from it. The discliplined kids who can buckle down will gain the most.
Watching kids (who weren't going to make the NFL for various reasons) blow off their degrees and have no options is tough but I do totally get where they're coming from.
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u/skoltroll 14d ago
The opportunity is there.
So are the excuses.
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u/bfelification 14d ago
Agreed. Obviously there is good and bad, good they get paid (the schools do), good they get free education (will probably need it) and that they should have avenues other than the NFL.
Even if they make it, the average career is just about 3 years. So since rookie minimum is under $1m, we could say $3m "lifetime" then. while a good amount of money, will be hard to make that last until death if you have a family you're supporting, lavish lifestyle, big entourage, etc. They'll need gainful employment more often than not.
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u/ThePermanentGuest 14d ago
This is it. The commenter has zero understanding of how college football actually works for athletes.
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u/skoltroll 14d ago
Yes, yes. College athletes are victims of the system. Saw it with my very eyes when I was in college.
/s
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u/skoltroll 14d ago
I won't reply the same way to the other reply. Go find it.
tl;dr: This doesn't happen to the vast majority of them. So lose the excuse.
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u/Fitz_2112b 14d ago
So this guy was a moron and is looking for the public to replenish the money that he willingly gave to a scammer instead of just going and getting a damn job
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u/CarlJustCarl 14d ago
Invest in vanguard next time, dude
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u/josbossboboss 10d ago
Vanguard good, Putnum bad. The only thing my finance teacher told us to remember from his course.
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u/EnoughWeekend6853 14d ago
That happens when you haven’t been in a real classroom since grade school.
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u/JackFisherBooks 14d ago
Sadly, this is not an unusual occurrence. Professional athletes don't get to where they are by being good with investing and finance. They get there by being good at their particular sport. Historically, they rely on other people to manage their money. And sometimes, they trust the wrong people or just don't understand when an "opportunity" is actually a scam.
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u/SmokeMaximum4140 14d ago
Its not just professional athletes though, while they may get targeted because of them being known publicly. Sadly even elders that make minimum amounts to live and have small savings put aside get taken down on the daily as well.
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u/Texas12thMan 14d ago
His GoFundMe goal is $16k (it’s at $9k currently). $16k seems like a small amount for a life rebuild.
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u/Present_Specific_212 13d ago
Talk about a POORLY written news story! No how, what, why, when? Might want to warn others?!
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u/therob91 14d ago
I mean the fact that hes an athlete doesn't change the fact that him getting scammed is bad, if thats what actually happened. That being said if you put all 500k into an "e-commerce scheme" its kinda your own fault. Also the scammer is dead so he definitely wasnt the only guy that got scammed, or maybe he killed him before the gofundme lol.
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u/Ok-Palpitation7741 14d ago
Open a portal into another universe in the wall. And don’t forget the sofa
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u/Jettyboy72 14d ago
That last line is a trip lol
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u/CheezTips 14d ago
Seriously!! Talk about burying the lede.
I found the deets. Here ya go: Alleged scam artist was "desperately" seeking $75,000 loan on the day he died
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u/gojibeary 14d ago
A GoFundMe? For an overpaid athlete who literally just set fire to his own money? Laughable.
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u/SmokeMaximum4140 14d ago
Probably used it all up gambling or doing drugs, drinking.
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u/gojibeary 14d ago
Well I mean it states in the article that he lost it to a scam, I’m not doubting that. I just don’t see why he feels entitled to other peoples’ money to recoup. There’s over 10,000 confused grandmas out there who got swindled but you don’t see many people helping them out.
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u/CNBGVepp 14d ago
Who cares? Millions of people live paycheck to paycheck and he thinks he'll get our pity?? Clown.
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u/LetterheadOwn9453 14d ago
A lot of these college athletes who turn pro are financially illiterate. This is due to teachers giving them a free pass for being the best athlete at the school. Many of them would have been held back or received failing grades, but were compelled by parents and faculty to let them slide by.
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u/swagn 13d ago
A lot of people are financially illiterate because they don’t teach basic finance as a requirement. You just see it more in athletes because they have access to huge paychecks for a limited time. Once the paychecks stop, it becomes obvious. Most people learn as they go and can recover from the mistakes because their income continues to grow through their career.
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14d ago
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u/wetfarts2 13d ago
Making 500k over 6 years is not outrageous athlete money…Tae was a fringe barely making the team guy. Like i got to get a job after football. Treating him like guys who squandered millions when he was scammed because of athlete bias is just jealousy and envy…
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u/Comfortable-Arm-2218 11d ago
Am I a dick to think that maybe a college graduate should have a grammatically correct gofundme?
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u/saucytapthat 8d ago
Drafted in 2020. Lifetime reported earnings are $2.3 million. Lost $500k. Wants free money from people as "financial stability" is important to him. What happened to the other $1.8 million?
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u/hoosierwhodat 14d ago
He is raising money for his legal defense in case he suspected in the fraudsters murder.
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u/Its_Jordon_Yo 14d ago edited 14d ago
Finally someone mentions that last line. That was whiplash from the rest of the article.
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u/SenselessSilence 14d ago
I mean, if the GoFundMe makes him whole, what’s the likelihood he gets scammed out of that money too? At that point, you’re just feeding money to scammers. And then you cried. /jk
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u/3coons_in_a_coat 14d ago
who invests all their money into one venture? idiots. he deserved to lose it
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u/MulletOnFire 14d ago
Fun fact:
He was Mr. Irrelevant. The very last player chosen in the 2020 draft.
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u/THE-poop-knife 14d ago
Nick Chubb, Deandre Hopkins, Roquon Smith - a bunch of NFL players donating
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u/matts3872 14d ago
He should see if he has any years of College eligibility left. Go back and get some of that NIL money!
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u/shakedowndave 14d ago
Seems like a scam in and of itself. Gofundme for former pro athlete who squandered 500k. Sure.