NFL Quarterback Vince Young Files Bankruptcy Then Seeks Dismissal

Even highly salaried NFL quarterbacks can get in dire financial straits - like the rest of us

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Another celebrity has filed for bankruptcy – this time it's former NFL quarterback Vince Young. After an award winning college career at the University of Texas, and near-miss on winning the Heisman (he lost out to Reggie Bush), Young was drafted by the Tennessee Titans. After a strong start with the Titans, Young was cut after arguments with the crowd and coaches.

He was pulled from the roster and then released by Tennessee in 2011. Young signed subsequent one year deals with the Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills and then the Green Bay Packers. The Eagles contract played out, but the Bills released him within just a few months and the Packers within just a few weeks. Since then, he hasn't had an NFL contract.

During his brief NFL career, Young garnered more than $34 million in salary but has struggled financially for years. One of the major sources of financial problems has been a high interest loan he took out with Pro Player Funding which Young has accused of operating essentially as a high interest payday lender to professional athletes. He took out a nearly $2 million loan from them which he has struggled to repay.

We've written here before about the dangers of payday loans and other predatory financing offers, but it seems that even high earners can be preyed upon financially – much like those on the lower end of the earnings spectrum. Young sued Pro Player Funding and insisted he had been taken advantage of and that his handlers, not him, had received the proceeds from the loan.

Pro Player was one of the two creditors that Vince Young listed when he filed his Chapter 11 bankruptcy and his petition showed that the debt he owes the lender has risen to $2.5 million. Young filed the bankruptcy petition to protect his assets from collections efforts by Pro Player. Since the filing, he has worked out a deal with the lender and has turned around and asked that his Chapter 11 filing be dismissed.

In fact, it doesn't appear that Young personally filed for the loan from Pro Player Funding but had given certain financial advisors a power-of-attorney and that they mishandled his finances, including the acquisition of the high interest loan. Young has also sued his former agent and financial advisor for taking advantage of him. One of these cases has been settled, the other is pending.

Vince Young's financial situation resonates like so many cases we see in our offices. He was a high earner with an anticipated ongoing revenue stream of good earnings and accumulated debt based on those earnings – home, vehicles, family obligations and the like. And when his career hit a speed bump, his obligations outweighed his ability to pay. A high interest loan didn't help. Looking to the bankruptcy courts for relief seems a smart move.

To find out if bankruptcy can help you get out of dire financial circumstances, contact the law offices of John T Orcutt.