Dermontti Dawson deals with nearly $70 million in debt
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on July 2, 2010 12:22 PM ET
Longtime great Steelers center Dermontti Dawson can feel Mark Brunell's bankruptcy pain.
Dawson, in fact, dug himself a far greater financial hole than Brunell over the years. A finalist in the voting for the Pro Football Hall of Hame the last two years, Dawson filed for bankruptcy this week. He has liabilities totaling $69.659 million. He has assets totaling $1.417 million.
The filing indicates Dawson owes many business partners, primarily in real estate.
"Today's real estate market and economic conditions, plus the fact that I own non-controlling minority interests in the entities which own the real estate, left me with limited options," Dawson said. "I certainly wish things had turned out differently and look forward to continuing my contributions to this community."
It's a sad, sobering story about a man that by all accounts is a valued and highly respected member of his community. Current NFL players would be wise to keep Dawson's plight in mind as they try to grow their small fortunes.