Why Professional Athletes Go Broke

Here's something I never understood- what the hell do football players do after their three or five year contracts are up and they're left broken, bruised shells of men, what the hell do they do with all their money? The answer: they go broke. Holy crap, these people are bad at managing their money. According to this article, by the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce, and within five years of retirement, an estimated 60% of former NBA players are broke. WOW.

These guys are actually given "financial counseling" before they start up, but apparently it's not working. So why aren't professional players making more of a stink about this? If I were a retired NBA player, well I'd probably be sleeping on a pile of money, but besides that I feel like I'd lobby the organization for better financial services for newbies... Nobody's raising these concerns?

(via SportsIllustrated)