Tyron Smiff's Money Problems

[Ben_in_Austin]

Former West Virginia and current St. Louis Rams receiver Tavon Austin recently said that he can't believe how many people are crawling out of the woodwork asking for money now that he's set up as the eighth-selected player in the 2013 NFL draft. "Everybody wants to be around you," Austin told the Rams' official website. "My phone doesn’t stop ringing now. It feels like they’re counting my bank account now. So that’s probably the hardest thing for me."

If Austin wants to know how tough it can really get, he should talk to Dallas Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith, who was selected with the ninth pick in the 2011 draft out of USC. Smith signed a four-year, $12.5 million deal and went about becoming one of the best young blockers in the game. Considering what he was going through, it's amazing that Smith would be able to get his head together enough to find the field at all. As he recently told the Dallas Morning News, Smith agreed to pay his stepfather, Roy Pinkney, and his mother, Frankie Pinkney, a substantial sum of money in four installments to insure that they would want for nothing. But that wasn't good enough for the Pinkneys, or some of Smith's own siblings.

“There was a certain amount I agreed to give them, but it went way beyond that and I was just like, ‘I’m done,’” Smith said. “I feel like I shouldn’t have given them so much. There was nothing wrong with helping them out and making sure they were taken care of, but not something to where they live the same lifestyle as you.”
According to the Morning News story (and as we recalled on Shutdown Corner at the time), things got a lot worse when Smith tried to set some boundaries.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-s...n-smith-opens-family-financial-152258519.html

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I think the most that professional athletes should give, or owe, to their parents, and that is where I would draw the line, is a new home. That's it. And I've read a story about the father of a MLB player refusing the home that was offered to him by his son.

Tyrone is right, his family shouldn't be doing great just because he is. They shouldn't be homeless or anything like that, because what kind of son would allow that of their parents if it was in their means to prevent it? But a roof over their heads should be enough and all that they should feel entitled to.

As far as siblings go, well, you're on your own.

 

[Ben_in_Austin]

I think the most that professional athletes should give, or owe, to their parents, and that is where I would draw the line, is a new home. That's it. And I've read a story about the father of a MLB player refusing the home that was offered to him by his son.

Tyrone is right, his family shouldn't be doing great just because he is. They shouldn't be homeless or anything like that, because what kind of son would allow that of their parents if it was in their means to prevent it? But a roof over their heads should be enough and all that they should feel entitled to.

As far as siblings go, well, you're on your own.

Yeah, I think his parents are unappreciative. I grew up with Scott Linebrink, a muli-millionaire MLB pitcher. I never asked him for a dime. We go out, I sometimes buy. He sometimes pays. I think buying a home and maybe a car or two should be sufficient.

Vincent Young went broke in a similar fashion, helping his family, etc.

 

[superpunk]

next time please just post the whole article