July 8th, 2010 by Reed Allmand 
Former Jacksonville Jaguars’ quarterback Mark Brunell, file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy listing $5.5 million in assets and $24.7 million in debts. And it appears that the footballer’s bankruptcy was directly caused by the real estate foreclosure crisis and his personal guarantee of certain loans.
Among Brunell’s largest debts is a more than $5 million guarantee of a loan to JWB Owner LLC and more than $4 million in personal loan guarantees to his defunct Champion LLC business. Both companies were involved in real-estate investments.
And despite earning more than $50 million during his sports career, Burnell and his wife owe nearly $2.9 million on their personal home and they each only earn about $5,000 a month from Mark Brunell Enterprises Inc. But despite their low-income comparatively speaking, the bankruptcy paperwork did list some other assets that may be liquidated to repay creditors:
- A small collection of guns, which include a 12 gauge Remington shotgun and a Winchester 45
- Three vehicles, including a 2008 Ford F-250 pickup truck
- One Super Bowl ring and three rings from the Rose Bowl
So how does a millionaire footballer go from glam to broke? Slowly and over time is most likely the answer and just like others who make a lot less money. The process is the same it’s just that some debtors have a lot farther to travel down the road to bankruptcy than others. One of the mistakes that is apparent just from Brunell’s bankruptcy filing is that he waited too long to face up to the reality of his financial situation and to file bankruptcy. It was obvious that his millionaire days were behind him just from the salary he received from his company. But instead of facing up to that fact, he took financial risks that eventually drove him into bankruptcy. But the good news for this ex-footballer is that Chapter 11 bankruptcy will give him the opportunity to save many of his assets and give him the leverage needed to negotiate with his creditors.
About Reed Allmand
Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."
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