Fall from Grace

It is a tragic tale, the athletes who throughout their entire careers earned 6 figures plus and somehow, someway, at the end of it all ended up penniless.  With no money and nothing to show for the 6 and 7 figure contracts earned, many top athletes find themselves working a menial job because they have to, just to get by.  It is easy to lose it all when you are hemorrhaging money. 

Industry Reform

To protect their athletes many major sports have instituted players associations and unionized.  With unionization comes protection, and these organizations have brought an end to the sleazy athlete agent who is unqualified and financially fleeces the unsuspecting athlete.  The NBA, NFL, MLB and other major sports organizations do a lot to protect their athletes from sleazy predatory agents.   In order to even be considered as an agent for an NFL player an advanced degree is required and the maximum NFL athlete agent commission is 5%.  If you are paying more than 5% ask your agent why.