Another NFL Player Files Bankruptcy Due to Bad Real Estate Deals
Former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Dermontti Dawson joined former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell in filing for bankruptcy this month.
And even though the bankruptcy routes they are taking are different – Brunell filed for Chapter 11 business bankruptcy and Dermontti has filed Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy – they got there the same way: by personally guaranteeing loans on real estate deals that went bad.
Dermontti filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Lexington, Kentucky, where court documents showed he has assets of $1.42 million and debts of $69.66 million. Dermontti retired from the NFL in 2001, after playing his entire 13-year career with the Steelers, where he was the team’s highest paid offensive lineman at $4.2 million per year.
Dermontti’s largest debt claims include several million dollars owed to Fifth Third Bank of Lexington as a result of his ownership interest in several real estate development businesses. The bank had recently won a judgment against one of the businesses for defaulting on a $3.4 million loan.
Brunell’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy documents list assets of $5.5 million and debts of $24.7 million, most of which are personal loan guarantees he provided on commercial loans to several limited liability companies in which he had an ownership interest.
Greg Gilbert
Keith Maynard
