NFL’s Terrell Owens on how he lost everything despite making $80M: ‘I believed they had my back’

Terrell Owens is a former NFL player who is listed as the No. 6 greatest wide receiver of all time. He had 1,078 receptions, 15,934 yards, and 153 touchdowns. Despite his enviable record in the league, he never won a Superbowl for the 49ers. Nonetheless, he was inducted as a 2018 Football Hall of Fame class member.

He earned an estimated $80 million during his playing days, as per data from Spotrac. However, the Hall of Famer lost a significant portion of his money as a result of bad financial decisions and a suicide attempt.

He reportedly lost millions in the real estate crash; a friend embezzled money from him; and his financial advisor (recommended by his former agent) made bad investments allegedly costing him $6.5 million, according to CNBC Make It.

Owens further spoke about some of the bad financial decisions he made in an interview with GQ. He revealed that some of the decisions were mainly due to his trust in others to invest and manage his money.

“I hate myself for letting this happen,” he told the fashion 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.”

According to Celebrity Net Worth, as a result of his poor financial decisions, his fortune fell from $80 million to $500,000.

Despite the challenges he faced concerning his finances, he managed to fix himself and became in charge of his own finances, he said while speaking at Collision Conference in New Orleans in 2017.

“I have to go do my due diligence,” said Owens of what he learned about being successful in business. “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.”

“I allowed them to take control of the wheel,” he said. “Now I’m in the [driver’s] seat with them,” said the former NLF player, who started a clothing line, Prototype 81.

He is also behind Eighty-One Vino, a partnership with Lasorda Family Wines.