Legendary NFL wide receiver earned $80 million during Hall of Fame career but lost it all due to ‘bad decisions’
Terrell Owens belongs in any conversation regarding the greatest wide receivers ever.
'T.O.' ranks third in NFL history in career receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, and finished his career with 1,078 receptions, 15,934 yards, and 153 touchdowns.
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While a Super Bowl ring ultimately eluded him, the San Francisco 49ers legend was a six-time Pro Bowler and five-time first-team All-Pro selection, and was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Owens made a reported $80 million during a 15-season pro career that included stints in Philadelphia, Dallas, Buffalo, and Cincinnati.
However, the charismatic wideout squandered the lion's share of it because of bad decisions and financial mistakes, and is now 'only' worth an $500k.
In a conversation with the 50-year-old detailed that some of his poor financial decisions were due to his trust in others to invest and manage his money.
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“I hate myself for letting this happen,” he told the publication. “I believed they had my back when they said, ‘You take care of the football, and we’ll do the rest.’ And in the end, they just basically stole from me.”
As GQ reports, "[Owens] says his financial advisers… put him in a series of risky, highly leveraged ventures that he didn’t discover until autumn 2010, when he finally demanded a full accounting."
Owens also admitted he got carried away with the flashy lifestyle that comes with being a WR1 in the NFL.
“At that time I got sucked into wanting to be like everybody else, the guys with the Mercedes and all the flashy cars and the jewelry,” Owens .
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“I think those are some of the most idiotic purchases I think players can do, especially when they don’t have that money in the bank account to really pay for that stuff.”
He also had a (somewhat entertaining) habit of getting fined by the NFL for for “excessive” celebrations after his touchdowns. In 2000, Owens famously posed with his arms spread wide while standing on the star in the middle of the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium.
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He collected for excessive celebrations during his career, but says he doesn't regret it.
"It was worth it. That’s the least of my worries," Owens once said.
Owen's financial matters were made worse when, in September 2011, he was sued by Melanie Paige Smith III, the mother of his daughter, for failure to pay child support.
At one point Owens was $20,000 behind on payments.
T.O claimed the reason for the missed child support payments was due to his wages decreasing in the NFL. The case was eventually settled before it went to trial.
At the time, Owens had four children with four different women. According to , three of the four mothers appeared on an episode of 'Dr. Phil' and accused Owens of not fulfilling child-support obligations.
He said he was paying some $45,000 per month in child support at one time.
Owens acknowledged being depressed at one stage in his life. In 2006, he was hospitalized for a possible prescription drug overdose - with Owens later denying widespread at the time that he had tried to kill himself.
Thankfully, most of 'T.O's' financial woes are behind him.
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He now takes ownership of his money and preaches financial literacy.
“I have to go do my due diligence. When I wasn’t as knowledgeable, when I put a lot of trust in the people that I hired, those are the ones that burned me when I wasn’t really 100 percent in," he .
Owens, who has appeared on hit reality television series' like 'Celebrity Wife Swap', 'Dancing with the Stars', and 'The Challenge', has since launched his own active lifestyle and apparel brand.
It creates clothing designed to express, inspire and empower active living.
According to its : "Owens founded the brand to create adaptable men’s athleisure with the kind of style that gives you the confidence to take on anything, paired with the quality and functionality you need to take action.
"Inspired by his childhood experiences seeing his mother work as a seamstress, he understands the power of clothing to channel the creativity and confidence that helps you feel and be your best.
"Drawing from his background as a professional athlete, he emphasized high-quality performance materials to create garments that are as fitness-friendly as they are fashionable."
Owens isn't the only former NFL star to squander millions of dollars in career earnings.
Running back Adrian Peterson, the league's last non-QB MVP, lost nearly all of his $100m career earnings and went broke.
According to reports, the seven-time Pro Bowler and Minneosta Vikings legend finds himself , with a Houston judge recently issuing an order for him to turn over numerous assets in order to pay it back.
It is the latest in a long legal battle to get Peterson to pay back a $5.2 million loan he took out from a Pennsylvania lending company in 2016 that was supposed to pay back other lenders.
"Man, AP! You made a 100 million and then he borrowed, I think he borrowed like 5 million in two years," Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe said on a recent episode of his Nightcap podcast.
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"The end result when you borrow money like that [is] you gotta pay like 20-25% interest.”
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