Time and time again we hear about NFL players who have mismanaged their money only to wind up in financial trouble. Unfortunately that has now happened to former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter, who is reportedly having his Florida home foreclosed on.
Brian Bandell of the South Florida Business Journal reports that 1st United Bank filed a foreclosure lawsuit on March 6 against Porter and his wife over their Broward County home that was built in 2006 and purchased in 2007– the same year he signed a five-year, $32 million contract with the Miami Dolphins. That contract, as Bandell points out, included a $12 million signing bonus and another $8 million guaranteed money.
Hopefully Porter didn\’t fall on hard times because of a gambling problem, but is worth noting that he was arrested in December 2012 and charged with theft and a bad check complaint stemming from $70,000 in IOU markers he owed to the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas.
Porter was drafted by the Steelers in the third round of the 1999 draft and played eight seasons in Pittsburgh before being released in 2007 during the off-season. He was quickly snatched up by the Dolphins where her played three seasons. Following his release from the Dolphins in March of 2010, Porter signed a three-year, $24.5 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals that included a $4 million signing bonus. He did not see the final year of that deal, however.
Porter official retired as a member of the Steelers last summer and was honored along with several other former Steelers at the annual Friday Night Lights practice at Latrobe Memorial Stadium.
Keep your fingers crossed that Porter can get all of this straightened out.
