Well-traveled veteran QB Mark Brunell filed for bankruptcy Friday, which has got to be as far away from the joy of winning a Super Bowl as you can get (he picked the W as the backup for the Saints). Brunell has picked up over $50 million in the past ten years, but his problems don’t come from splurging on cars and magnums of Spades, but the other old axe that catches athletes: the failed real estate venture. Luxist reports:
Brunell has been a three-time Pro Bowl pick but he hasn’t been so successful off the field; he’s facing multiple lawsuits over failed real estate and business loans. He was involved in a partnership called Champion LLC that included other NFL players Joel Smeenge and Todd Fordham (Smeenge has previously filed for bankruptcy). Brunell invested in Florida real estate including a project in Jacksonville Beach that had a $2.2 million loan made by CNL Bank in 2005. CNL began foreclosure proceedings on the propertylast year after accusing the partners of defaulting on the loan.
According to the Florida Times-Union, Brunell also invested in several other failed real estate projects in Michigan and Michigan-based Select Bank won a $1.1 million judgment against Brunell and his partners. Brunell has tried to keep up with the payments on his own but was no longer able to do so. “The timing of the group’s real estate acquisitions at the height of the real estate market, in hindsight, clearly was not good,” Brunell said in a statement e-mailed to the Times-Union. Brunell is currently a free agent and has not signed with another NFL team.
BROKE
BROKE
BROKE
BROKE
BROKE
UPSTANDING GENTLEMAN, WEALTHY AND WISE
WAIT…
Even the best laid plans of mice and men at times fall short, and this also applies to cats who “may not have the physical gifts,” but are “so cerebral” and “[are] like a coach on the field.” It’s always a shame to see money squandered, but there were some winners in Mark Brunell’s life, albeit temporarily:
Brunell, who used to play for the Jaguars, has been active in the Jacksonville community, and created the Brunell Family Foundation in 1997 to raise funds for critically ill children and their families. The organization has raised nearly $800,000 to benefit charitable causes.
I’ll leave with this: taking care of mama ‘nem isn’t the only way to do irreparable financial harm.