In July of 2006, Vince Young, the No.3 overall NFL draft pick signed a six-year contract with the Tennessee Titians that was worth just over $48 million, with a maximum value of $57.79 million, and contained $25.74 million in guaranteed money.
Now fast forward six years later to the present day and you'll notice, Young has no job in the NFL and is now currently broke.
If dramatic music ever was appropriate now would definitely be the time.
Young earned over $30 million of his rookie contract and banked another $4 million last season with the Philadelphia Eagles, before being released. Young later went on to sign a one-year, $2 million contract with the Buffalo Bills in May, a deal that included $350,000 in guaranteed money, at which again he was released.
We're all left guessing how could a two-time NFL Pro Bowl player who has made all that money be broke today?
Well the answer is pretty simple to Young, his management stole his money.
In June, Young filed a lawsuit against his former agent, Major Adams II, and financial adviser, Ronnie T. Peoples of Peoples Financial Service. In the suit Young claims that at least $5.5 million of his money was misappropriated by Peoples Financial Service.
The suit was filed just five days after a New York lender notified Young that a loan of nearly $1.9 million obtained in his name during the NFL lockout in 2011 was in default. Young is now seeking to stop the lender, Pro Player Funding LLC, from enforcing a judgment of nearly $1.7 million.
According to Trey Dolezal, Young's attorney, the loan with Pro Player Funding was obtained by Adams and Peoples, who Young has accused of falsifying documents, forging his signature and impersonating him for their own financial gain.
"They conspired to take Vince's money," Dolezal told the Associated Press. "It's that simple."
According to public records, Vince Young was one of at least 10 NFL players who turned to Pro Player Funding for cash during the lockout. Loan documents show he borrowed the $1.9 million at 20 percent interest, with $619,122 in interest paid up front, and agreed that a judgment could be entered if he missed a payment.
Young claims he didn't ''knowingly execute'' any of the loan documents. Anything he signed was ''without the corresponding documents attached and without knowledge as to what the signatures pages referred,'' one of his court filings states.
Pro Player says its case is supported by the fact that Young's signatures were notarized and that emails show he was involved in making sure the lender received repayment directly from the Eagles.
Young also contends that Pro Player's efforts to serve him and the Bills with legal papers during training camp, which included a threat to contact the local sheriff, ''played a role'' in the Bills' decision to release him.
Bills coach Chan Gailey declined comment when asked if Young's off-the-field issues had anything to do with his release.
