Hey, Millionaire! Football is a national pastime in America, so obviously, fans hold the game's
stars in high regard. But you often see the most famous people on earth squandering their fortunes.
These NFL players had it all and lost it. Some of these stories will shock you. You won't believe
how much money these famous players have lost - especially the person in our number 1 spot at the
end of this video. Are you ready to learn which players lost their millions? Let's get to it.
12. Raghib Ismail - $4 million
Raghib 'Rocket' Ismail is no stranger to controversy. As a junior at Notre Dame,
he shocked the world when he chose to sign with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts. Although he had a
good reason - they had offered him the biggest contract in football history to date, with a
guaranteed $18.4 million for four years. But since then, he's become known for having more failed
business investments than any other athlete. His first terrible investment came when he was still
a college junior. He handed over $300,000 for a new Hard Rock Cafe-type restaurant unimaginatively
named the Rock'n'Roll Cafe. His money, and the restaurant, disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Some people would wise up after that, but Ismail persisted and invested incredible amounts of money
into crazy business ventures. Among other things, he chose to put his money into a music label,
a religious movie, some kind of plastic surgery tool, a machine that dispensed prepaid phone
cards, and a custom calligraphy shop which is so weird I can't even comment on it. Amazingly,
he hasn't gone totally bankrupt, but his estimated losses add up to about $4 million.
11. Luther Elliss - $4 million
Luther Elliss had a super successful career as a star defensive lineman for the Detroit Lions.
But his business career didn't really match up. He's another player who made terrible investments
in things like internet companies and real-estate ventures over the years. But he lost money in
plenty of other creative ways too. Delinquent taxes and mortgage debt helped to drain some
more of his money. He sure knew how to spend his money, and the mortgage debt was largely due to
the size of the houses he chose to buy. He is also the father of 12 children, so it won't surprise
you to hear he owes thousands of dollars in school fees. But in 2011, he finally filed for bankruptcy
after a lender won a judgment against him worth about half a million dollars. After that, he had
$1.38 million in assets, which sounds good, except for the $4.4 million in liabilities. Since then,
he's been coaching high-school football and doing some public speaking about his rise and fall.
He blames greed for his financial collapse, but hopefully, he learned a few life lessons from it.
10. Clinton Portis - $5 million
With 80 touchdowns in his NFL career, it's not surprising that Clinton Portis managed to
earn a $50 million contract with the Redskins. Unfortunately, his business decisions weren't
anywhere near that successful, and you could argue that wasn't even his fault. He put his
money in the hands of two investment advisors who were registered with the NFL Players Association.
He had every reason to think they were legit, but sadly, they turned out to be pretty shady.
They did have to suffer the consequences of their dealings, but not before losing a
significant amount of Portis' money. He lost $1.3 million on a casino in Alabama that went broke.
He ended up owing incredible amounts of money to the IRS, MGM Grand Casino,
The Borgata Casino, and even his own mother. She was entitled to half a million, in case you were
wondering. Add that to the $400,000 he owed in child support to four different women, and you
reach a loss of about $5 million. To make matters worse, he was also charged with committing wire
fraud and healthcare fraud along with some fellow ex-NFL stars. Still, I kind of feel sorry for him.
9. Johnny Unitas - $5.3 million Johnny Unitas has got to be one of
the greatest sportsmen of all time, scoring 290 touchdowns in his dazzling career. Unfortunately,
the better someone is at football, the worse they seem to be at business. He has a seriously long
list of businesses that went under, including a restaurant, a bowling alley chain, a real estate
venture in Florida, and a freight company. But the real clincher that secured his bankruptcy
was an electronics company that produced circuit boards. He borrowed $5.3 million from the city
of Baltimore with the promise that he would move the business to their city once he'd bought it.
Unfortunately, he personally guaranteed the loan, so when the business inevitably went bankrupt,
he and his wife were left with the bill. It doesn't look like they ever bounced back.
8. Deuce McAllister - $7 million Deuce McAllister was once the
second-highest-paid running back. You'd imagine he had enough money to keep him going forever.
Unfortunately, just 4 years after earning that title, he filed for bankruptcy.
It all started with an investment in a Nissan car dealership that definitely didn't go to plan.
Nissan's financing arm claimed that McAllister owed them $7 million. That's exactly the same
amount he would have earned that year if the New Orleans Saints hadn't released him a month before
his troubles started. They sued him for over $1.5 million. McAllister responded with a counterclaim,
saying they'd deliberately withheld information from him about how profitable the area was.
Unfortunately, nothing seemed to come of his claim. Instead, his house was auctioned off in
a legal claim two years later. He apparently owed about $1.8 million on the mortgage. I
guess there's not much you can do to pay off your house when Nissan bankrupted you.
7. Vince Young - $10 million You'd imagine the kind of money
NFL players make can last a lifetime. But, anyone who can spend $15,000 on a single trip
to the Cheesecake Factory will run out of money eventually. By the way, Vince Young actually did
do that - I'm not sure how. There shouldn't be $15,000 worth of food in any Cheesecake Factory,
but Young seems to have a knack for spending money. That's apparently not his only 5-figure
dinner tab either. His other extravagant spending sprees include expensive cars for family members
and friends. And there was one occasion where he bought every ticket on a plane to have
it all to himself. Apparently, his financial advisor and uncle, who served as his manager,
didn't do much to stop him. He filed for bankruptcy in 2014,
with about a half a million to his name and $10 million in debts. The story has a happy ending,
though - he's since got a degree, got a good broadcasting job, and cleared his debts!
Now that we've hit $10 million in losses, give us a like! Subscribe for more of the best business
stories out there. And keep watching - $10 million seems like a small loss next to our number 1 spot.
6. Dan Marino - $13.6 million Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino
had a pretty incredible NFL career. He played for 17 seasons and 9 Pro Bowls, scoring 420 touchdowns
in his career! He's even known to people who don't care about football since his legendary appearance
in the comedy classic Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. But that was the last time his film career went
well for him. In 2012, he was in the headlines again for a huge failure. At the time, he owned
1.6 million shares in Digital Domain Media Group. Even if you don't know their name, you have seen
their work. The James Cameron-backed company was involved in the special effects for movies like
Titanic and Apollo 13. They were also the people behind that famous Tupac hologram. The hologram
actually worked in Marino's favor - it upped the price of their shares to $9.20. Sadly, that didn't
last very long, and the stocks soon plummeted so low that the company went bankrupt. Marino is
estimated to have lost just under $14 million as a result. It all seems a bit unfair - I would've bet
my money on that company too. Still, he's managed to bounce back since then. He's now working in
broadcasting with CBS and HBO, and he's back with the Dolphins, this time as a special advisor.
5. Bernie Kosar - $15 million The great quarterback Bernie
Kosar was a goldmine for the Cleveland Browns over his admirable career. However,
his investments didn't really match up. While we're not sure of his total net worth,
we know he was one of the richest quarterbacks when he was playing, thanks to a $5 million
contract with the Browns. Some estimates put his assets at around $10 million!
That's a lot of money to lose, but Kosar had no problem burning through it. Kosar found himself
in serious financial trouble between a failed steakhouse business, bad real estate decisions,
and an expensive divorce. He owed $9 million to a bank due to the real estate issues, nearly
$1.5 million in debt to the Cleveland Browns, and $3 million was owed to his ex-wife. He had
an additional $725,000 in unpaid personal loans, totaling a loss of about $15 million! I know what
you're thinking - that's a pretty deep hole to dig yourself out of. He claims the problem was
made worse by his own dad, who used to serve as his financial manager. Apparently, he used Kosar's
money to pay off his car and mortgage. Rumor has it that he had just $44 in his bank account when
he filed for bankruptcy in 2009. At least we can all say we're richer than this star NFL player.
4. Andre Rison - $19 million Andre Rison made an impressive
amount of money from all the teams he played for. Winning the Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers
has got to be the highlight of his career, but it can be hard to come back down to earth when you've
done something spectacular. That's probably where it all went wrong for him. There's a culture among
rich ex-footballers where they try to outdo each other with lavish expenses. As you can imagine,
this doesn't help their bank balance, especially when they're mainly interested in sports cars.
He also enjoyed visiting upmarket nightclubs with large groups of people
and footing the entire bill. They say he sometimes arrived with tens of thousands of dollars ready
to cover the costs of those nights out. An ESPN documentary revealed that Rison had even spent
$1 million just on jewelry! His life might have gone a little smoother if he'd kept
that million for his children. In the end, it was the mounting unpaid child
support that led to him finally declaring bankruptcy. He lost about $19 million,
and he's now getting by as a high school football coach. That's a pretty big fall from grace.
Think $19 million is a lot of money to lose?
You haven't seen the numbers that are coming up. Guess which player lost the most in the comments,
and keep watching to find out who our number 1 player is!
3. Mark Brunell - $50 million
Mark Brunell had an amazing career as a quarterback with multiple teams, earning an
estimated $50 million throughout his celebrated NFL days. But his financial story is one of the
most fascinating on this list. $50 million is a lot of money, but the bigger they are,
the harder they fall. And he fell pretty quick, losing all of his money within a year of retiring!
It was largely failed real estate investments that sucked the millions out of his bank account.
Aside from the $9.5 million mega-mansion he bought for himself, there were even more investments that
also collapsed along with the housing bubble. He also lost $9 million when his Whataburger
franchise failed. And all this doesn't even cover the $24.8 million in debt. His $5 million
in assets isn't going to save him from that. But it almost seems like he had a crystal ball
because he got himself a job in medical sales with a $60,000 yearly salary before he'd even
stopped playing! It's like he saw it coming. He's doing a little better since 2021, though. He's
been hired as a quarterback coach for the Detroit Lions, so that should be a ray of hope for him.
2. Dermontti Dawson - $70 million Dermontti Dawson was elected into the Pro
Football Hall of Fame in 2012, so his football legacy is pretty solid for the rest of time.
But his bank balance is a lot less stable. Despite being the highest-paid offensive lineman in the
history of the Pittsburgh Steelers, he had no problem losing all that cash. He invested millions
into real estate, not even including his home in Kentucky. That meant the 2008 housing crash
really hit him where it hurt. Despite assets like a Rolex watch and $22,000 in guns,
he didn't come close to bouncing back on the millions he lost on his real estate investments.
The 41-foot motor home might have come in handy if only he didn't owe money on that too. On top
of all those problems, his son's college tuition was apparently costing him $3,500 every month!
You're not going to believe this, but when he finally filed for bankruptcy in 2010, his debts
were calculated at just under $70 million! I know - it hurts just hearing that number.
And that's not even the biggest number on the list. That title actually goes to...
1. Terrell Owens - $80 million
Another star who's been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Terrell Owens is known for
his talent and slightly cocky nature. You wouldn't think that would cost him, but it actually did.
He made nearly $80 million in his NFL career, which is seriously impressive. But, once again,
real estate investments stepped in to make sure he couldn't enjoy it later in his life.
At the time of the housing market crash, his mortgages on a collection of houses and condos
totaled a staggering $750,000 every month! A $2 million entertainment complex in Alabama that went
bust and several impossibly expensive cars and lifestyle choices ate another huge hole into his
bank balance. Plus, there were also the mounting child support payments to the four different
mothers of his children. Oh, and the risky investments made by his advisors. He also picked
up several fines in his NFL career for excessive touchdown celebrations, like that time he posed
on the star in the Dallas Cowboys stadium. And the time he did it again, which is seriously
asking for trouble. The trouble came in the form of $150,000 in fines. In the end, it looks like
this all added up in a big way. He appears to have lost all the $80 million he earned as an NFL
player! But he might still come back a little - he still owns an athleisure clothing brand and hosts
a podcast called "Getcha Popcorn Ready with T.O. & Hatch" every week. He also just launched his own
wine label! So, even if he hasn't got any money, he has nice clothes and wine to keep him going.