Terrell Owens is Broke, Joining Texas IFL Team
Terrell Owens is broke, and in an attempt to make ends meet and keep up with child support payments, he has moved from the NFL to the IFL.
Terrell Owens played in the NFL for 15 years, starting for the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals. During his dominant career, he earned over $80 million, but has blown most of it on bad investments and poor financial choices.
Owens, who also essentially wasted around $4 million on houses and condos that became dead weight after the real estate crisis, is still attempting to play football. After not receiving a contract to play for any NFL team in 2011, he has announced he will play for the Allen Wranglers in the Indoor Football League.
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The IFL is relatively unknown and Owens will make between $250,000 and $500,000 from his contract, according to a Bloomberg report.
According to Big Lead Sports, Owens has fathered four children with four different women. His child support payments total over $40,000 a month, which he has attempted to save because he isn't working.
"If there's anything I'm sorry about, it's getting involved with all that," Owens said, after admitting he never actually dated any of the women. He said one was a one-night stand and the others were "repeat offenders."
Owens also allowed financial advisers to take advantage of his assets, according to his profile in GQ magazine. In the article Owens said that he was too trusting and let other people take care of his finances.
He blamed his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, for bringing him to crooked financial advisers, who put him in a series of risky and expensive investments.
"I hate myself for letting this happen," Owens said. "I believed that they had my back when they said, 'You take care of the football, and we'll do the rest.' And in the end, they just basically stole from me."
He claimed that Drew Rosenhaus mocked him when his financial situation took a turn for the worse.
"When Drew heard about what had happened with my money, he said, 'Oh man, is there anything I can do?'" Owens told GQ. "And I said, 'Dude, are you going to give me my money back? I don't think so, so why bother trying to appease me?'"
Owens told GQ that he didn't realize the bad ventures until late in 2010, when he finally demanded a closer look at his accounting. One of his most damaging investments was an Alabama entertainment complex that featured electronic bingo. The investment cost him $2 million.
Owens said he invested at the suggestion of his advisers and attorney, Pamela Linden. Not only was the business illegal in Alabama, but it broke an NFL policy that prohibits players from investing in gambling.
Other athletes, such as former Washington Redskins running back, Clinton Portis and boxer Floyd Mayweather also invested in the complex.
Despite everything, Owens is expected to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He racked up almost 16,000 receiving yards during his career, which is second only to Jerry Rice.
