"Play Money"

SPORTS BUSINESS

The finances of pro athletes too frequently follow a riches-to-rags trajectory. Not the least of their challenges involves finding a good financial adviser.

Tampa Bay Bucs cornerback E.J. Biggers is determined to avoid the financially destructive behavior that has wrecked the finances of many athletes. He drives a 5-year-old Dodge, has a weekly allowance, shares the rent on an apartment with a friend and has saved up 20 months of living expenses to prepare for a lockout. Photo: Brian Smith

In his search for good advice, Biggers followed the counsel of his cousin, Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem, to a group led by financial advisers Aaron Parthemer and Sylvester King Jr. at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Fort Lauderdale.

Haslem “told me he lost a lot of money doing different things with other financial advisers,” Biggers says. “The No. 1 thing (Parthemer) told me; in my first year he wasn’t going to let me invest my money in anything.”

Parthemer wants rookies to be in money-market equivalents that they can’t tap on a daily basis as they learn about risk and budgeting. He structures the investments so the players can avoid market meltdowns at a career stage when they may need liquidity. Football, unlike the NBA and MLB, has no guarantees.

Case in point: Biggers. He’s not disclosed what his four-year contract is worth. But even at the league minimum, he has to have signed for north of $1.2 million. However, he was injured in the preseason his first year and his contract wasn’t guaranteed. The second year went according to contract but now the lockout looms over his third year.

Starting 11 years ago with a single player who found himself in a financial mess and came to them for advice, Parthemer’s and King’s athlete practice has grown to 44 — mostly NFL players, but including a half-dozen pros from the NBA and baseball. Their group consists largely of mid-round picks they hope will grow into long-term players with the salary and assets to be profitable clients.

Their roster includes six Pro Bowl players, including Eagles Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel, who came to them after he became dissatisfied with previous advisers. Athletes represent about $50 million of their assets under management, with another $200 million from corporate executives, professionals, retirees and lottery winners.

“I’m more the numbers guy,” Parthemer says. “Sylvester is the father figure.” When an athlete wants to buy a new car, Parthemer will say, “That’s a beautiful car. I’m going to crunch some numbers. Why don’t you talk to Sylvester?”

King provides his likely response to the athlete: “Absolutely not.”

Parthemer’s downtown office has wall-to-wall autographed balls and bobble-head figures of clients. “At the end of the day, they’re real people with real problems” and can be high maintenance, he says. He acknowledges that there is sizzle. “Can I say it was nice to stand next to Gisele (quarterback Tom Brady’s wife, who is a model) waiting for the Patriots to come out?”

Parthemer and King move rookies to muni bonds and similarly safe investments in their second year and “a little bit more aggressive” investments as the career progresses. “We need the sure things. They’re always going to find something off on the side that will give them that high level of risk,” Parthemer says.

Consider Samuel, who owns a record label even though Parthemer and King decry such investments. Parthemer has a distinct memory of Samuel saying, “I’m not letting you talk me out of this.” Provided an athlete has solid savings put aside, invested safely, and limits how much he can lose on something speculative, Parthemer will agree to a risky investment. Samuel always has been a saver, Parthemer says. Says Samuel, who made north of $9 million last season, “I’m a safe guy. I do a lot of safe investments and bonds. Stick to the budget.”

Meanwhile, Biggers, 23, the Bucs defensive back, takes small steps. He is financially focused, once telling the St. Petersburg Times that one of his two most visited websites was his bank’s site, where he keeps an eye on his account. He lives on a weekly allowance and has to call Parthemer if he wants to tap other funds. “I talk to a lot of other guys on my team, and they say you have an allowance. That’s smart,” Biggers says.

Biggers saved 20 months of living expenses to prepare for the lockout. He says he keeps his expenses low. Like other NFL players, he has to pay a personal trainer. He also helped his mother move into a home in a better neighborhood to raise his little brother. But he drives a 5-year-old Dodge Charger and to avoid temptation, he doesn’t socialize much with athletes well out of his income bracket. He shares the rent on a North Miami apartment with boyhood friend Louis Delmas, who plays for the Detroit Lions.

Parthemer says Biggers is “one of the top guys I’ve ever met” in terms of his approach. “He’s not calling us up and saying, ‘I’m thinking about this new Bentley. I’m thinking about this new Rolls-Royce.’ It’s more about take care of his mom and younger brother and building something for himself first. He really is a saver. I don’t think I’ve seen him spend anything on the luxury side. After two years in the NFL, that’s hard to do.”

Biggers even has a general plan for a career in counseling or coaching after football. He knows the stories of players ending their careers with no plan and no money. “I don’t want to be like that.”

“I’m a safe guy. I do a lot of safe investments and bonds. Stick to the budget,” says Asante Samuel (center), pictured with financial advisers Aaron Parthemer (left) and Sylvester King Jr. Photo: Jeffrey Salter