31 NFL Players Who Lost Everything

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JaMarcus Russell

Getting to play the sport you love and good at while also being paid millions of dollars to do so is quite the career. As long as the athletes keep up their hard work then they can retire at an early age with quite the nest egg. Being hit as hard as these NFL players get hit on a weekly basis though can leave a bit to be desired as far as intelligence and financial handling goes. Let's take a look at some NFL star athletes who have gone from millionaire to bankruptcy. 

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JaMarcus Russell played as a quarterback in the NFL for a very short span of only two seasons. He was the very first overall pick of the 2007 NFL draft being picked up by the Oakland Raiders. Russel received a $68 million dollar contract from the Oakland Raiders but after two years of inconsistent play he was released. He lost most of his money after that and was even arrested on several occasions for drug-related incidents.

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Lawrence Taylor

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Lawrence Taylor played as a linebacker in the NFL for a total of 12 NFL seasons spending his entire time with the New York Giants. He's a two-time Super Bowl champion and was elected to the Pro Bowl in different years. After failing several drug tests and being arrested for drugs on several occasions, Taylor ended up losing a lot of his fortune.

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Dan Marino

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Dan Marino spent his entire 16 years in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins and was selected to the Pro Bowl nine different years. Marino is one of the top five quarterbacks to ever play the position in NFL history. He became an analyst after retirement and invested most of his earnings in a company called Digital Domain. Marino lost $14 million due to the 1,575,525 shares he purchased after that company went bankrupt. 

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Tiki Barber

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Tiki Barber spent his entire NFL career with the New York Giants. who played in the NFL for a total of 9 years and it was the selected by the Giants in the second round of the 1997 NFL draft. Barber is known as being one of the most consistent backs to ever play the game. Once he retired, he started working as a sports analyst for NBC, but was soon let go once it was discovered that he had been unfaithful to his wife having had an affair with an intern of NBC.

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Terrell Owens

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Terrell Owens is known as one of the greatest wide receivers to ever play. But he was also just as much known for his selfish personality. He caused problems for every team he was on during his career.. When he retired he made poor investments and constantly failed to pay child support. 

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Warren Sapp

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Warren Sapp played as a defensive tackle in the NFL for a total of 12 seasons. He is a Super Bowl champion along with a seven-time Pro Bowl player. Life after the NFL got pretty rough for Sapp as a result of his expensive lifestyle and was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2012. 

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Mark Brunell

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Mark Brunell play as a quarterback in the NFL for 8 seasons and was able to win himself a Super Bowl championship ring along with being selected to the Pro Bowl on 3 different occasions. He made an estimated $50 million during his NFL career. After retiring he made some poor investments in real estate and a fast food chain which led him to have to file for bankruptcy in 2010. He is now working as a high school football coach.

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Travis Henry

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Travis Henry played as a running back in the NFL for $0.60 spending most of his time with the Buffalo Bills. Henry saw spurts of greatness during his short NFL career but ended up being released for failing multiple drug tests. He was briefly imprisoned for cocaine and failing to pay child support for his eleven children from ten different women. 

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Ray Rice

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Ray Rice played as a running back in the NFL four five seasons. he is a three-time Pro Bowl selectee and even won a Super Bowl championship ring. Rice was on his way to becoming one of the best running backs in the NFL until he decided to knock his fiancee unconscious. He was let go by the Ravens and suspended by the NFL indefinitely leaving him jobless and broke. 

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Michael Vick

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Michael Vick was playing great football when he was arrested for running a dog fighting ring out of his house. In 2007 Vick went to jail and lost his $130 million contract. He has played for several teams since his release but has never been able to perform like he once did. Spending some time ion a federal prison might have that effect. 

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Aaron Hernandez

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Aaron Hernandez only spent a couple of years in the NFL from 2010 to 2012 with the New England Patriots as a tight end. Hernandez was on his way to becoming one of the best tight ends in the league until he decided to commit murder. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for killing a former friend of his. 

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Chris McAlister

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Chris McAlister played as a defensive cornerback in the NFL for 10 seasons. He's a three-time selection for the Pro Bowl and even won a Super Bowl championship ring. McAlister made around $45 million playing cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints. But even with all that money he ended up having to file for bankruptcy after not being able to pay for child support. 

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Dick Lane

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Dick Lane played as a defensive corner back in the NFL for 13 years. The Hall of Famer also served four years in the army before dominating the NFL as one of the best defensive backs. After his career alcohol, making bad business deals, and using drugs profusely caused him to lose everything. 

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Dermontti Dawson

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Dermontti Dawson played as a center in the NFL 412 Seasons spending his entire career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. he was selected to the Pro Bowl on 7 different occasions. Dawson had a great career and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He had to file for bankruptcy in 2010 after his real estate business failed. 

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Archie Griffin

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Archie Griffin played as a running back in the NFL from 1976 to 1985. He also had a very decent career and college winning the Heisman Trophy award twice. Griffin is the only two-time, back-to-back Heisman winner in college football history. During his seven years with the Bengals though he only scored seven touchdowns. He had to filed for bankruptcy in 1982 due to a failed business. 

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Raghib Ismail

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Raghib Ismail played as a wide receiver in the NFL for about a decade. He spent his last year in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys retiring in 2001. Ismail played for many different teams during his 20 year career and made close to $20 million. He lost nearly all of his money after making several poor business choices. 

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Ryan Leaf

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Ryan Leaf only spent about four years in the NFL after being selected 2nd overall in the 1998 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers. The former first round pick is one of the biggest busts in league history and has continued that theme after his short career. He has since been in and out of jail since his short career in the NFL. 

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Josh Gordon

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Josh Gordon is currently still an active wide receiver in the NFL where he plays for the Cleveland Browns. he was selected by the Browns in the second round of the 2012 supplemental draft and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2013. Gordon was on his way to being one of the best wide receivers the NFL has ever seen, but drug abuse has led to his time in the league looking to come close to an end. 

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Luther Ellis

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Luther Ellis played as a defensive tackle in the NFL for nine Seasons. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions 1995 NFL draft in the first round and was selected to the Pro Bowl on two different occasions. Ellis went from multi-millionaire to bankruptcy after failed business investments. 

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Andre Rison

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Andre Rison play as a wide receiver in the NFL for 16 years and made the Pro Bowl 5 of those years. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1989 NFL draft in the very first round. Rison had a successful career as a receiver and started on by signing a $17 million contract with the Browns. He would blow through a lot of his fortune and was forced to file for bankruptcy after failing to pay for child support payments.

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Deuce McAllister

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Deuce McAllister played as a running back in the NFL 4/8 seasons spending his entire time with the New Orleans Saints. he won one Super Bowl ring and was selected to the Pro Bowl twice. McAllister was a consistent and loyal running, but a horrible business man. He had to file for bankruptcy after his Nissan Dealership went out of business. 

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Johnny Unitas

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Johnny Unitas is a three-time NFL champion and one one of the very first few Super Bowls. he was also selected to the Pro Bowl 10 different years. Unitas saw most of his success and won a championship with the Baltimore Colts. After football, he became an investor but failed miserably and eventually had to file for bankruptcy in 1991.

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Bernie Kosar

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Bernie Kosar played as a quarterback in the NFL 411 seasons and was able to walk away with one Super Bowl championship ring. He was probably the best quarterback to ever play for Cleveland. Kosar was a huge fan favorite before retiring in 1996. He became part-owner of the Florida Panthers and opened a restaurant, which didn't do so well and caused him to file for bankruptcy in 2009. 

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Charlie Batch 

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Charlie Batch played in the NFL as a quarterback spending most of his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before retiring he was able to walk away with two Super Bowl championship rings having won both with the Steelers. Batch was a consistent quarterback throughout his career and earned a stable paycheck. After his career though he went into real estate with some partners and defaulted on 25 properties with debt that added up to $8 million. 

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Ricky Williams

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Ricky Williams played as a running back in the NFL for 12 seasons and made the Pro Bowl in 2002. Williams was once one of the greatest running backs in the league before deciding to quit to indulge in "spiritual" things. After blowing through the $80 million he received from his contract and endorsements, he returned to the league years later but was no where near the athlete he used to be. 

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Vince Young 

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Vince Young played as a quarterback in the NFL for 8 seasons although his last 2 years or spent on the practice squad. He was able to walk away with two Pro Bowl selections in 2006 and 2009 and was named the NFL comeback Player of the Year in 2009. Young spent his NFL career playing for the Tennessee Titans, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills. Throughout his career he made $26 million but most of his fortune was gone before he was done playing due to poor financial decisions. 

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Muhsin Muhammad

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Muhsin Muhammad played as a wide receiver in the NFL for 13 years and made the Pro Bowl on two of those years. After playing with the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears, Muhammad saw a lot of his fortune begin to fade away. He had to sell his house, which had one of the largest private aquariums in the U.S., due to credit card debt and a failed record label. 

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Mark Ingram Sr. 

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Mark Ingram Sr. played as a wide receiver in the NFL for 9 years. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the first round of the 1987 NFL draft. Ingram is widely known as the man who caught the game-winning touchdown for the New York Giants in their victory over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison in 2008 for money laundering and tax fraud. 

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O.J. Simpson

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O.J. Simpson is one of the greatest running backs to come out of the NFL. Just a few of his football accomplishments in a long list include being a five-time Pro Bowl selection, the most valuable player in the NFL in 1973, and the Heisman Trophy winner in 1968. Everything changed for him when he was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman in 1994. He was proven not guilty in 1995, but in 2007 he was convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery in which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. 

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Clinton Portis 

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Clinton Portis played as a running back in the NFL for eight seasons and was selected to the Pro Bowl for two of those seasons. Portis was once the best running back in the league. At the end of his career he had made close to $50 million, but he was struggling to make ends meat by 2015 because of a foreclosure, unpaid income taxes, and an unmanageable gambling problem.

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Rae Carruth 

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Rae Carruth only played in the NFL for two seasons after being selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the Carolina Panthers in 1997. Carruth was a promising wide receiver for the Carolina Panther and earned about $3.7 million over four years. In just his second year though the truth came out. Carruth was charged and later convicted for conspiring to murder the mother of his child who later died leading to a 24 years prison sentence. 

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