For the NFL in particular, there was an even more harrowing report. Though controversial and it turned into an economic term pissing match, the stat reported as that 78% of retired NFL players were in financial stress/bankruptcy within 2 years out of the league. Others argued that the real number was 16% for bankruptcies. The arguement turned into a "broke vs. bankrupt" discussion which you can follow along here: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/theres-a-difference-between-broke-and-bankrupt-for-ex-nfl-players/
Regardless, the point remains that NFL players have a very short shelf life. Contracts are not 100% guarenteed. The average career is about 3 years long, which is a problem because most players make their "real" money on their 2nd contract around free agency after their rookie deal. The stats show that the majority of those players never actually get there. While everyone focuses on the big money contracts that QBs are paid, such as the Mannings, Brady, Rodgers, etc, the reality is that most guys tend to bounce around, will end up on practice squads or signed to futures contracts. With injuries being a part of the game, you could end up like Steve Smith, the Giants' WR who decided to roll the dice and put up a big season heading into free agency, only to wreck his knee against the Vikings and sign a one year deal with the Eagles in 2011, miss out on a Super Bowl win, see Victor Cruz take his role, and he would be out of the NFL.
For so many players, you have guys who have relied on their skill as a football player to get them to the point where they are in the NFL. What happens when, inevitably, they are no longer in the league? Football, unlike the other sports, chews you up and spits you out. Running backs who were great in their first few years in the league are considered old and broken down by the time they are 28 years old. Guys have to have hip and knee replacement when they are done, and now more data on CTE due to repetitive head trauma. That means sky rocking medical costs as they get older, moreso than your average American.
Even further beyond that, what skills do these guys have in the real world to offer? Sure, a handful of former players will go into broadcasting and work with ESPN or one of the Networks to offer their insight. Others can fall back perhaps as coaches. Others will hit the sports memorablilia circuit. But for other skills required, how many of them took advantage of the opportunities given to them from football to prepare them for life afterwards. How many grew up in rough neighborhoods around crime/poverty and were able to get a scholarship and an education and actually use it. How many invested their money when they played? And how many actively used their fame to open other doors? Well, back in 1991, Inside the NFL spent time with Carl Banks to see what he did, and it shouldn't be a surprise to look back about 25 years later and see how it worked out
"Whose fault is it that you live in a ghetto? I don't know, but you can change your life if you do the right things."- This was the general theme of the piece. Banks would be speaking with a High School football team from inner city Newark. Their life closely mimicked what Banks grew up with in Flint, Michigan. Poverty, drugs, crime, prison, and death and the unfortunate cycle of living in it. While it is great to try to find a professional sports career, the odds of that happening are very small. So rather than fill these kids with unrealistic goals, he simplified it to something that was within their grasp as athletes, using their skills to get a scholarship and get an education. For many of these kids, the costs involved in going to college are far too high for their parents to afford. So his point was to use their skills to get an education, and with an education, learn the necessary skills to find a job and begin a career and break that cycle of poverty. They needed to stop blaming others for why their life was as it was, but take advantage of what sports and football can do to get that education and change their lives.
"I've seen too many guys walk out of this game and have to sell their houses, and sell their cars that they used to own. I don't want to do that. I don't have any intentions on having to give all of this back and going back to a lifestyle that I've left"
- Now we go to the focus of Banks himself. Keep in mind, this was 1991. Banks was in his 8th year in the NFL. He already had a very successful career on the field. Winning 2 Super Bowls, earning a Pro Bowl selection, and was a team co-captain on the 1990 Championship team. He used his fame to pull in endorsement deals and good enough to make him a top 10 earner in the NFL in this category.
Per his football contracts, Banks already got his payday as a first round pick (#3 overall in 1984) and he would holdout in 1988 to land a 4 year, $3.6 million deal. In 1992, he would get a 1 year, $1.15 million deal in his final season in NY. Banks would end up in Washington in 1993 as part of the Dan Reeves purge, and he would sign what would turn out to be a 1 year, $1.8 million deal. Banks would finish his career with one final NFL contract in 1994 to rejoin Bill Belichick in Cleveland.
So in his playing days, Banks earned millions of dollars via his football contracts and his football related endorsements. So Banks had created a nice lifestyle for himself, but as shown from this report, he was preparing for his life after football.
- Broadcasting: In 1991, Giants games were broadcast on the radio on WNEW 1130 AM. So, as the flagship station of the Giants, it was an easy selection for Banks to pick a partner to work with to learn his chops in broadcasting. Banks would work on doing interviews after games, and in this one clip, we see not only Banks, but a young Bob Papa (prior to his own breakout as the Giants play by play man in 1994) talking about the previous week game. WNEW would sign Banks to a 5 year deal to do daily sports updates and get his foot in the door on NY radio. So how did that work out? Well, fast forward to today. Banks is a regular on WFAN, doing interviews on Fridays before games and on Mondays after the games. Banks does spots on Giants.com and other affiliated Giants' shows. And in 2007, Banks would end up offering color commentary in the booth with Papa, and Dick Lynch. Since 2008, it's been Papa and Banks as the 2 voices in the booth calling Giants' games. Banks didn't fall into this job, he had already been putting in work towards it some 15+ years before he was offered the spot.
- Networking: The clip also showed Banks hosting a luncheon with business leaders/executives. Banks was smart enough to know how the world works, and particularly the NY business scene. Being a sports celebrity opens many doors for athletes, if they do it right. There are marketing aspects involved, as businesses would look to a sports figure to help promote their product (hence, Banks being a top 10 endorser back in 1991). Most fans love to hang around big name sports stars, and business executives are no exception. But for these same businessmen, time is money and their time is valuable. So Banks figured out a way to spend time with them, and help him network. As it has long been said, it's not what you know it's who you know. Banks was plenty smart enough to use his name and his high profile to spend time with these people and pick their brains for how to set up his own future business interests. Which leads to...
- Fashion/Clothing line: HBO showed a clip of Banks at a meeting to review different clothing designs and offering his input. Banks, sticking with what he knows, has since grown as a businessman and he is now the President of G-III Apparel which includes both a line for Men and Women, as well as jewelry. G-III can be bought on NFLshop.com, Macy's, on QVC, and there is a shop inside MetLife Stadium as well. Banks has also brought back the Starter brand from the 1980s. Pretty impressive for a guy known as "Killer" because he was a grave digger to earn money and once broke Danny White's wrist on a sack in 1986.
Ultimately, what we saw was Banks with a plan in 1991, and in each case in the subsequent nearly 25 years has gone forward and achieved what he set out to do. With so many stories of guys who have fallen on hard times in their post playing careers. Some with physical ailments beyond their control, others with financial ones which were but they didn't prepare. Banks clearly did it the right way.
Some other quick notes
- I kept some of the footage after the Banks story and it was the lead in to the Giants vs Browns highlights in 1991, featuring rookie head coach Bill Belichick's return to Giants Stadium as head coach of the Browns. He lost that day 13-10.
- Len, Nick, and Cris were all discussing the Ray Handley Giants' offense and how it was "boring". Collinsworth made the point that Jeff Hostetler in his first year as a starting QB, didn't really have the experience/authority to go in and say that this wasn't working. Conversely, if Phil Simms was still at QB, he would have marched in there and shook things up. It's an interesting point, but ultimately, Handley was very rigid in 1991, remember that he refused to hire an offensive coordinator to replace himself once he was promoted to head coach and essentially demoted an experienced coach in Ron Erhardt. Odds of him changing up his offensive scheme because Hostetler or Simms came in and told him he's doing it wrong, were probably pretty slim.
