Ed Reed to Houston

[akashicrecorder]

For those of you sympathetic to the plight of ex-athletes who go bankrupt I say...make up all the excuses you want, but who is stopping a guy in his 30's from getting a job? Yeah, reality bites when you've pissed away million$, but don't expect any tears out of my eyes. My own working career spanned 44 1/2 years. All of which I had to get up to the morning alarm clock, catch a train, then put in (at least) 8 hours of effort. We all pay for our mistakes, or revel in our victories, but putting any emotional capital into a guy who already had the brass ring but threw it away, will get no compassion from me... Bc

Man, oh man.

:word

[srobert96]

No sympathy for players that go broke. The NFL gives them an unbelievable amount of education and options to make sure that this does not happen. They educate them on the friends and family issues they are going to face. They give them the ability to put aside a good portion of each check into an investment. The guys that go broke do so because they ignore all of the constant advice from the NFL.

That being said I have not heard anything about Reed not being smart with his money. He has always been really low key in the off season.

[HotInHere]

No sympathy for players that go broke. The NFL gives them an unbelievable amount of education and options to make sure that this does not happen. They educate them on the friends and family issues they are going to face. They give them the ability to put aside a good portion of each check into an investment. The guys that go broke do so because they ignore all of the constant advice from the NFL.

No sympathy for players that go broke. The NFL gives them an unbelievable amount of education and options to make sure that this does not happen. They educate them on the friends and family issues they are going to face. They give them the ability to put aside a good portion of each check into an investment. The guys that go broke do so because they ignore all of the constant advice from the NFL.

Ultimately everyone has to make their own way. We all face challenges. I have no more sympathy for these players than I do for a family farmer who is going bankrupt because the market changed. But that doesn't mean I have no sympathy at all.

Sure, many NFL players are bankrupt because they squandered millions of dollars. But for most of them, it is a very financially challenging career, even if they invest their money well.

Median income is about $800K. Average career is 3.5 years. That's a total of $2.8 million. "That's plenty," you say. "I wish I had that much money, I'd never work again."

Well about half of that is going to go away to the agent and the IRS. And if you conservatively invest the rest, let's say you make 4%, or about $60K/year. "That's plenty, I could live on $60K." Well your money is not growing at all if you are using all that interest. But maybe you get lucky, and you're not crushed by the market, so you are still making $60K 40 years from now. Well 40 years from now, that will be the equivalent of trying to live on about $18K.

But no biggie, right? You are retired at a very young age, and you have a ton of earning years ahead of you. Except for the fact that in order to even play a down at the NFL, you had to completely commit to athletics at a very early age. You took easy classes, because you didn't have time for homework in the hard ones. You skated through college because the college told you that was the path to NFL riches.

Your physical abilities are compromised, because your body is beat to hell. Even if you were born with a good degree of intelligence, you have done very little to develop that to any non-football purposes, and a lot of what's left may have gone away with repeated concussions. Plus you were probably born poor, have little support network, and half the people you do know are trying to screw you out of what little money you do have. And just because the NFL spent a weekend telling you how to manage your money, that does you no good, because let's face it, it takes a lifetime, not a weekend, to learn to manage money.

The point of all this is not to heap pity on these guys. The point is that if you think that making to the NFL is like winning the lottery, that these guys all have an easy road ahead of them paved with NFL riches, and that the only way they fall into financial disrepair is by being completely stupid and irresponsible -- well, you are wrong.

[Captain Silver]

Well about half of that is going to go away to the agent and the IRS.

That sir is bullshit. Agents were allowed I 'believe' a max of 3% of a players contract. Depending on what state, taxes differ, and a decent accountant can make sure you get better than "Half" you salary. I make a decent buck, but they don't take HALF my check, anything else is being a bit dramatic.

You make great points, but lose the meat of your argument with wild numbers.

[redmike34]

That sir is bullshit. Agents were allowed I 'believe' a max of 3% of a players contract. Depending on what state, taxes differ, and a decent accountant can make sure you get better than "Half" you salary. I make a decent buck, but they don't take HALF my check, anything else is being a bit dramatic.

You make great points, but lose the meat of your argument with wild numbers.

It's not BS if you're in CA. For the Feds, you owe 35% if you make over $388K...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybui...irs-tax-rates/

...and I assume at that salary level you'd be in CA's max tax bracket of 12.3%...

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2012_ca...emptions.shtml

Add 3% for an agent and you're pretty much bang-on 50%. Of course, there are accounting shenanigans that can happen, but it doesn't change the salient fact that by the letter of the law you owe damn close to 50%. That also ignores the fact that paying someone to conduct such accounting shenanigans for you is typically not a cheap service...

MD's tax rate above $250K is $12,760 plus 5.75% on anything over $250K... which is effectively about 5% at the low end. Lots better, but still well over 40% with the feds plus agent's percentage thrown in...

[Captain Silver]

It's not BS if you're in CA. For the Feds, you owe 35% if you make over $388K...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybui...irs-tax-rates/

...and I assume at that salary level you'd be in CA's max tax bracket of 12.3%...

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2012_ca...emptions.shtml

Add 3% for an agent and you're pretty much bang-on 50%. Of course, there are accounting shenanigans that can happen, but it doesn't change the salient fact that by the letter of the law you owe damn close to 50%. That also ignores the fact that paying someone to conduct such accounting shenanigans for you is typically not a cheap service...

MD's tax rate above $250K is $12,760 plus 5.75% on anything over $250K... which is effectively about 5% at the low end. Lots better, but still well over 40% with the feds plus agent's percentage thrown in...

Then you seriously need to invest in an accountant. Rich people stay rich by not paying the government. I am far from rich, but I pay an accountant and most of the wealthiest people in the world do the same.

By that token, most athletes are too wrapped up in "me-Universe" to even see anything beyond the ?00,000.00 cash.

But nice numbers work, thanks for the education. Like I said, I pay a professional to do all that and make out decent.

BTW, to any Baltimore Raven's that lurk on this site, I have many friends in and around Baltimore that work in restaurants, bars, nightclubs. Stop being cheap when it comes to tipping. Someone please tell me a good story where a Raven took care of someone in the service industry. I only know of one and it was me and Steve Bisciotti 13 years ago, and he wasn't a player.

[HoustonRaven]

Then you seriously need to invest in an accountant. Rich people stay rich by not paying the government. I am far from rich, but I pay an accountant and most of the wealthiest people in the world do the same.

By that token, most athletes are too wrapped up in "me-Universe" to even see anything beyond the ?00,000.00 cash.

But nice numbers work, thanks for the education. Like I said, I pay a professional to do all that and make out decent.

BTW, to any Baltimore Raven's that lurk on this site, I have many friends in and around Baltimore that work in restaurants, bars, nightclubs. Stop being cheap when it comes to tipping. Someone please tell me a good story where a Raven took care of someone in the service industry. I only know of one and it was me and Steve Bisciotti 13 years ago, and he wasn't a player.

You can't avoid the Jock Tax and many states have them.

That 50% number is pretty dead on and why many athletes will put their permanent residence in states like Florida or Texas. No state income tax.

ESPN dove into this topic in their documentary "Broke".

[HotInHere]

That sir is bullshit. Agents were allowed I 'believe' a max of 3% of a players contract. Depending on what state, taxes differ, and a decent accountant can make sure you get better than "Half" you salary. I make a decent buck, but they don't take HALF my check, anything else is being a bit dramatic.

You make great points, but lose the meat of your argument with wild numbers.

My bad. I assumed wrongly agents made a whole lot more than 3%. They sure do if you are a local band trying to get booked.

Thanks for the correction. Still, the maximum tax rate is 39.6%, plus that 3%, plus state taxes if applicable, and half is not that far off. That's not including sales tax they pay on everything they actually buy with that money, property taxes on their new house, etc.

[HotInHere]

Someone please tell me a good story where a Raven took care of someone in the service industry. I only know of one and it was me and Steve Bisciotti 13 years ago, and he wasn't a player.

A woman called in to a local show once -- I think Norris/Davis. She said Ray Lewis came into Ruths Chris where she worked as a waitress. Her story as I recall it was that unlike most of the athletes who barely acknowledged her presence, Ray took the time to talk to her. Long enough that he found out she was waitressing to pay her way through nursing school. When she retrieved the check after Ray left, he had left a very nice personal note, along with enough money for her to buy her books and then some.

For all Ray does in the way of self-promotion, it's really amazing how many stories you hear about him doing completely unpublicized beautiful things for his fellow man.

[HoustonRaven]

BTW, to any Baltimore Raven's that lurk on this site, I have many friends in and around Baltimore that work in restaurants, bars, nightclubs. Stop being cheap when it comes to tipping. Someone please tell me a good story where a Raven took care of someone in the service industry. I only know of one and it was me and Steve Bisciotti 13 years ago, and he wasn't a player.

I have a few good stories myself from that same group of folks ...

Brady Anderson was a notoriously bad tipper. Rod Woodson would routinely not leave any tip. Kyle Boller, when he was dating Tara Reed, would simply roll out on his tab in and around Federal Hill, even once getting banned from what used to be a martini bar across the alley from No Way Jose's ....

A co-worker and I ran into Ed Reed at a Ruth's Chris in Atlanta. He was sitting at the bar, eating dinner and had two glasses of wine. We talked him up once he was done eating, talked about his then recent hip injury, he paid and rolled out. Nice guy to us. But the bartender got pwned on the tip. He only got $5.00 and told us he was in there all the time and that's his MO.

I know Harbs is a fantastic tipper. Ask anyone at Aldo's in Little Italy.

[Paintballguy]

I have a few good stories myself from that same group of folks ...

Brady Anderson was a notoriously bad tipper. Rod Woodson would routinely not leave any tip. Kyle Boller, when he was dating Tara Reed, would simply roll out on his tab in and around Federal Hill, even once getting banned from what used to be a martini bar across the alley from No Way Jose's ....

A co-worker and I ran into Ed Reed at a Ruth's Chris in Atlanta. He was sitting at the bar, eating dinner and had two glasses of wine. We talked him up once he was done eating, talked about his then recent hip injury, he paid and rolled out. Nice guy to us. But the bartender got pwned on the tip. He only got $5.00 and told us he was in there all the time and that's his MO.

I know Harbs is a fantastic tipper. Ask anyone at Aldo's in Little Italy.

What a bunch of scumbags. I always tip well as long as I get good service, and I'm nowhere near as wealthy as any pro athlete.

From being in the service industry before, people who cheap out on tips piss me off.

[RavenScallywag]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...arently-didnt/

I know, I know...PFT...but does it seem to anyone else like Florio is trying to insinuate something based on the Ravens??

1. Pointed out that he was never on an injury report for his hip, and also made reference to his shoulder injury, that we only put on an injury report after he blabbed about it
2. Threw out that perhaps he injured it "climbing out of a tank in February"

In any case, it is funny that we seem to have done our due diligence, while the Texans did not.