One in six NFL players – about 16 per cent – file for bankruptcy within a dozen years after retiring according to a study first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
And star players who have long careers and make millions of dollars are just as likely to go bankrupt as backup players with short careers.
“Bankruptcy rates are not affected by a player’s total earnings or career length. Having played for a long time and been paid quite well does not provide much protection against the risk of going bankrupt,’’ said the authors of the study, Kyle Carlson, Joshua Kim, Annamaria Luscardi and Colin F.