Tyron Smith: NFL Star's Family Issues Due to Missing Million or Girlfriend?
Tyron Smith is a Dallas Cowboys left tackle who was the ninth overall pick in the league last year and the youngest player last season, but now it seems he is dealing with adult issues after calling the police on his family stemming from issues with an estimated $1 million missing from his bank account.
Police were called to the home of Smith, 21, on Tuesday where a police report stated that several of his family members were "in pursuit of collecting financial gain." According to NFL.com, Smith's lawyer John Schorsch could possibly take legal action after the NFLer claims that $1 million has gone missing without his permission and his family continues to demand money of him.
While Smith signed a four-year $12.5 million deal with the Cowboys, the NFL network reported that he decided to file a restraining order against his mother Frankie Pinkney and stepfather Roy Pinkney to ensure that they stayed away from him and his girlfriend Leigh Costa. However, Smith's mother wrote an email to the Dallas Morning News on Thursday morning to deny claims that she is after his money, instead blaming her son's girlfriend for the issues in the family.
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Although she was not present at his home when police were recently called, Pinkney confirmed that two of his stepsisters decided to pay him a visit. However, Smith's mother refused to admit that their dispute had anything to do with finances.
"They had not seen nor talked to him in months due to a family disagreement, which by the way, was not about finances. The family disagreement was about his girlfriend, who is five years older than Tyron, who is a big part of the confusion in our family right now," Pinkney told the Dallas Morning News. "Leigh reported that my daughters were threatening her and they were demanding money. My daughters did not make any threats."
The football player's mother also insisted that she was not taking any money from her son without permission.
"I don't know anything about any missing money," Pinkney said. "The money that we did receive from Tyron was all accounted for and everything is in writing, and he's authorized all of it."
However, Smith's lawyer stood firmly on his claims that the family may have been involved in theft.
"In order to get a restraining order of that nature you have got to provide certain evidence of threatening violence, and obviously those were met," Schorsch said in a Dallas Morning News report. "The mom and/or the stepdad, the collective group of family, have threatened the physical well being of Tyron and the life of his girlfriend."
Schorsch told the publication that he is working to account for all of the money that Smith's family has received, and stated that things may get messy in the process.
"I'm not certain of the amount of money that's gone. I would suggest to you that the numbers are in the seven digits that need to be accounted for. I don't know how much of that, if any, is a legitimate gift and how much of that is squeezed out of him or how much of that is flat out taken," Schorsch said of the young athlete's finances. "And I know of the latter two categories it's a bunch. I'm going to make sure all the money is justified and it's not going to be pretty."
