After signing an NFL rookie contract in 2006 for a guaranteed $26 million, superstar quarterback Vince Young is crying the “I-ain’t-got-no-money blues,” blaming his former agent and financial planner — who he is suing — for his money pit situation. They, in turn, are saying that Young is intellectually diminutive when it comes to money, a real out-of-control spender, and had novices looking out for his financial stability, reports the New York Daily News.
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The 29-year-old former Buffalo Bills quarterback is suing his former agent, Major Adams, and a North Carolina financial planner, Ronnie Peoples, alleging that they misappropriated $5.5 million. The lawsuit, which was filed in June at a Houston court, also states that there were instances when the pair forged his signature or impersonated him on the phone.
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Young filed the suit nearly a week after a New York lender contacted him about a loan of nearly $1.9 million, which was in default and was in his name from last year’s NFL lockout. Young is now seeking to stop the lender, Pro Player Funding LLC, from enforcing a judgment of nearly $1.7 million, claiming he wasn’t involved in obtaining the loan and that the proceeds went to Adams and Peoples.
According to Forbes, Young was one of at least 10 NFL players who turned to Pro Player Funding for large amounts of money in order to maintain their lifestyles during the lockout. It was reported that he borrowed the $1.9 million at 20 percent interest, with $619,112.26 in interest paid up front, and agreed that a judgment could be entered if he missed a payment.
Young allegedly authorized $1 million in payments to Pro Player directly from his Eagles salary during the 2011 season, and his accountant was working this year to have a similar arrangement with the Bills, according to court records. However, when a payment due in May was never made, the loan went in to default.
According to Young, Pro Player’s dogged efforts to serve him with papers this summer “played a role” in the Buffalo Bills’ decision to release him this past August prior to the start of the season.
On the other hand, the defense lawyers for Peoples and Adams say that the money-squandering blame should fall squarely on Young. They also claim that the Heisman trophy finalist allowed incompetent advisers to manage him, including his uncle who is a middle school teacher. “This is a person scrambling helplessly and pointing in all directions to blame others to get out of debt,” Charles Peckham, Adams’ attorney, told the Associated Press.
Young is notorious for spending exorbitant amounts of cash frivolously. He once bought all of the 120 seats on a Southwest Airline flight from Nashville to Houston, because he wanted to be alone, and then reportedly paid someone $200 to carry his bags.
In his rookie year at Tennessee, he would allegedly drop $5,000 a week at the Cheesecake Factory restaurant, treating fellow teammates. Last year, Young got in to an altercation at a strip club, when the manager refused to convert $8,000 of Young’s credit card into single dollar bills so that he could make it rain on the dancers. Young was cuffed and charged with a misdemeanor assault.
