I saw a report that 78% of NFL players wind up divorced or broke after they exit the league.
As far as earning so much money, and being broke afterwords, a wealthy mentor I knew told me that when people make lots of money they also spend lots of money too (I saw in another article that Gatlin drives a Porsche, he could have bought a Honda)! So what happens is, when the income drops (and it will) they are still spending money to keep up the lifestyle that they are accustomed too and eventually it causes them to run out of money. It’s understandable, it’s only human nature to want to upgrade your lifestyle when you are given more fiat currency to play with.
So the key is, to make, say 100k but live as if you only make 50k. But how many people have the restraint to do that, especially athletes who are aggressive and in these days flashy? Also, I’m sure a lot of athletes get ripped off with shady business/“investment” deals.