Why do so many NFL players go bankrupt?

[freddyg12]

Daseal's point about lottery winners pretty much points out the obvious in this to me; it is an extreme culture shock of sorts to go from low to mod. means to being wealthy. To some degree it doesn't matter what your socioeconomic background is, there are people from all walks of life who've become rich only to go broke. Even smart people who happen to make bad decisions.

Have you ever discounted somebody's success because they inherited the family biz or family money? Well compare that person's financial mgmt. to some of these guys. We tend to disregard "old money" people as being privildged, and maybe they are to a degree, but there's more to managing a lot of money than most low to middle class people understand.

Maintaining wealth is just as hard as achieving wealth. In football terms, it's harder to repeat as super bowl champions than it is to win that first one. Most nfl players, and I believe most of the general public, don't have a concept of what it takes to maintain wealth.