The salaries paid to professional athletes are sometimes impossible for the average fan to comprehend. A $100 million here, a $100 million there and pretty soon it adds up to real money, to borrow loosely from an esteemed politician of the past.
Despite the crazy salaries, the sad (or satisfying, depending on your viewpoint) fact is that many professional athletes burn through their hordes of cash, often before hitting retirement.
What Maradona, Michael Vick and Mike Tyson have in common?
MARADONA, soccer: $26 million Lost
Diego Maradona is arguably the greatest soccer player who ever lived. His feats on the pitch for Argentina in the World Cup, Barcelona, Sevilla and Napoli among others made him a one-name legend. But the legend had a darker side, too.
The Italian stop may have been his Waterloo. There was the 1991 suspension for failing a cocaine test. That lasted 15 months.
Maradona’s troubles didn’t end with retirement. The Italian years caught up with him in 2009 when Italian tax authorities ruled he owed 37 million euros ($26 million at the time) in back taxes, penalties and interests. Having only paid a fraction of the bill (reportedly 42,000 euros, two wristwatches and some earrings), Maradona’s salary as head coach of Argentina’s national team was being garnished before he was dismissed from that post following a lackluster performance by Argentina in the 2010 World Cup.
Now, however, he has scored a lucrative coaching gig with Al Wasl FC in the United Arab Emirates league. Hopefully, someone helps him start practice on time.
MICHAEL VICK, football: At Least $50 Million Lost
The story of Michael Vick’s spectacular fall from grace has been well documented. The dynamic quarterback who led a woeful franchise, the Atlanta Falcons, to Super Bowl contention tossed it all away by investing in dog fighting. Then came prison and bankruptcy. Back in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, Vick last month signed his second $100 million contract ($40 million guaranteed).
The happiest people might be his creditors, who stand to see much more of the $20 million they were owed than they might have expected.
MIKE TYSON, boxing: $400 Million Lost
Mike Tyson was on top of the world: Heavyweight champ, career earnings of about $400 million and all the adult toys anyone could want. But outrageous spending ($173,000 for a gold and diamond necklace, a pricey divorce, fancy cars and two Las Vegas mansions) and big tax bills (nearly $14 million owed in the U.S. and Britain) helped lead Tyson to bankruptcy court. There he declared debts of more than $27 million, to a former trainer, a former financial manager and even a music producer, among others. By that time Tyson’s $30 million paydays were a distant memory.
But he has gotten a measure of redemption, appearing in parts 1 and 2 of the hit comedy film, "The Hangover," and being inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame this year.
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