I'll agree with the last half of the last sentence for the older guys who didn't have the opportunity to earn an outrageous salery like many of these guys are now. League minimum is what 350-450K a year? And, it's been about that for quite a while now. As far as I'm concerned anyone who retired from the NFL from about maybe 1989 to now, IMO should have no reason to be eating out of a garbage can. Those folks should have been smart enough to stash some of that money they got in a savings account or some bonds or mutual funds or in their mattresses at the very least. A dirty accountant might be a good exception to the rule, but not that good as you should be able to have some control over your finances and be checking up on them. If I ever hear about a guy like Jerry Rice (purely for demonstration purposes) come to some sort of hearing like we have today in congress about how he can't afford health care and this and that, I'd laugh him out of the room. Of course, I still question some of these older players (especially ones who didn't have their career shortened by a fluke injury or the like) not being able to stick some of the money they made away and let it work for them. If there's one thing the league and NFLPA could do better is set up some sort of class or service designed to help the players make educated decisions about dealing with their money. Things like how to deal with a check that's more than a couple hundred a week. What sort of options are out there for investment. With that kind of money, it's easy to lose track of where it's all going with purchases, investments, and donations.