Players lining as much as decrease alimony funds, assist funds as lockdown lasts – The Morning Call

May 9 (Reuters) – Tina Julian, a 33-year-old nurse in San Diego, says she may not be able to afford childcare if National Football League owners and players can’t agree on how to handle more than 9 billion dollars to share.

Julian’s concerns stem from the alimony she is receiving from the father of her 2-year-old son, New York Jets defense attorney Antonio Cromartie, who may be without a paycheck unless a new employment contract is secured.

“The money I get from him is definitely important,” Julian said, declining to reveal how much she gets monthly from Cromartie, a free agent who made $1.7 million last season. “Something would have to change.”

Cromartie, who has nine children by eight women, according to the New York Post, is among players who may be out of work because the NFL is unable to reach a collective bargaining agreement with their union. National Basketball Association players could face a similar situation when their contract expires in two months.

NFL and NBA players are lining up to reduce child support and support payments to reflect the lower incomes if their leagues were closed, said Attorney Howard Rudolph of Rudolph & Associates LLP in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Rudolph, whose office is adorned with sports memorabilia from his athlete clients, said he works on change requests for NFL players that he would not identify. It’s the same move Wall Street executives took when they lost jobs or income during the recession, says Raoul Felder, a divorce attorney whose clients include former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and basketball player Jason’s ex-wife Kidd belong.

“The NFL is an industry, and when the industry is in trouble, the men can’t meet their obligations,” said Felder, 76, in a phone interview. “The only thing to do is a file to change.”

athletes, bankers

Cromartie’s agent, Jason Chinn, vice president of football operations at Pro Tect Management in Westlake Village, Calif., has not responded to voicemail messages left at his office or an email that Beth Acker, the executive assistant, had received. Julian said in an email that Cromartie didn’t mention the possibility of not being able to pay the support. Cromartie represented herself in Julian’s paternity case, according to court records. Julian’s attorney, Andy Cook, has not responded to messages left at his office.

By Felder’s standards, a top athlete is no different than George Zahringer, a former CEO of Bear Stearns Cos. In 2009, after losing his job, Zahringer asked a judge to reverse an order that increased his child support payments from $25,000 to $87,000 a month, including retrospective payments. Richard Albrecht, an attorney for Zahringer on the case, declined to comment.

lockscreen

The NFL locked out its players in March, who earn an average of about $1.8 million a year. Billy Hunter, the executive director of the union that represents players in the NBA, where the median salary is nearly $6 million, expects owners to impose a lockout when their employment contract expires on June 30.

The Hunter’s Union distributed to its more than 400 members a 56-page lockout surviving guide that includes money-saving tips like refinancing mortgages and turning off the lights at home. Page 21 is devoted to alimony and child support, issues that affect up to 80 percent of professional athletes, says Frank Brickowski, 51, a former NBA player and divorced father of one who is now regional director of the National Basketball Players Association.

Brickowski, a Penn State graduate, has urged active players to enter into prenuptial agreements so that child support and support don’t become issues. Brickowski said his campaign was helped by the popularity of Kanye West’s “Gold Digger,” a song about the dangers of relationships with women who are more interested in money than love.

Kemp’s children

Brickowski was once a teammate of Shawn Kemp, who was the subject of a Sports Illustrated cover story that said he had seven children with multiple wives. According to Brickowski, on trips to Los Angeles, three women with children sat behind the basket, all Kemps.

Kemp’s agent Tony Dutt did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment. Colin Bryant, Dutt’s partner at Dutt Sports Services Inc., said in a telephone interview that the two recently discussed change requests “at length”.

Kemp told the Seattle Times in 2005 that he had never missed a child support payment.

The National Center for Health Statistics said it does not calculate a nationwide divorce rate in the United States.

“I tell the players that in a divorce, on average, the woman gets 70 percent of a man’s wealth,” Brickowski said, without justifying the number. “That gets her attention. But not as much as Kanye.”

alimony change

Keith Glass, 58, an agent whose clients include seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry, said players aren’t the only ones feeling the financial hit of a lost workday. Contracts can’t be signed, preventing agents like Glass, who has been divorced three times, from collecting commissions.

Glass said he filed a child support change request for himself during the 1998-99 NBA lockout. He said he won a 40 percent discount but couldn’t remember the dollar amounts.

“There will be files, all right,” Glass said. “You can bet it’s already being handled by agents.”

There will be a lot of money at stake for players like Cromartie. The 27-year-old received a $500,000 advance on his $1.7 million salary from the Jets to help settle child support matters. He was among players who criticized the NFL and the players’ association for failing to reach an agreement.

“About how the owners and the NFLPA get their butts back to the table and talk about it,” he said on Twitter, a week after the owners locked out players on March 12.

First paychecks

None of the more than 15 NFL, NBA, and National Hockey League agents contacted would say if they were helping or had helped prepare customer change requests.

Under the terms of their employment contracts, NFL players will not receive their first paycheck for the 2011 season until September and NBA players will not receive their first paycheck until November. Rudolph said applications must be made in advance to ensure any change coincides with the income limit.

Not all athletes consider modification. Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden, who has three children with three wives, has enough money to pay his support even in the event of a lockout, his agent Ian Greengross said. McFadden signed a six-year, $60 million contract in 2008 that guaranteed $26 million.

“If they don’t increase his child support to $20,000 a month per child, that won’t be a problem,” Greengross said in a phone interview.

other income

Julie Hannaford, a Toronto-based attorney who represented former NHL player Tie Domi’s ex-wife in their divorce, says requesting an amendment doesn’t mean a reduction will be granted.

Judges often first require the athlete to discard assets, including real estate, cars or even championship rings, she said. Canadian law states that a divorced athlete with two children earning $9 million a year would pay his ex-wife about $105,000 a month, while an athlete in the same situation earning $1 million would pay less than $12,000 dollars, she said.

“Most players are so well managed that they have enough money set aside to protect against lockout day,” Hannaford said.

There’s more to a judge than just no paychecks, says Peter Kuperstein, 41, a divorce attorney and partner at Boston-based law firm Prince Lobel, which represents professional athletes he wouldn’t identify.

Health insurance

An athlete’s expenses for things like health insurance increase during a lockout because teams don’t pay, Kuperstein said. According to the trade association, which represents NFL players, a player’s health insurance can add up to more than $2,000 a month.

“The likelihood is that the majority of these players are the ones who have health insurance for children and possibly their ex-wives,” Kuperstein said.

While athletes have agents, lawyers, and unions looking after their financial well-being, this may not be the case for ex-wives and ex-mothers. Any court-approved change can have serious consequences for them, Felder said.

“It falls like a ton of bricks,” he said.

As for Julian, she’s been saving a portion of her paycheck and tax refund for the past several years. There are many reasons why child support doesn’t arrive on time, Julian said in a phone interview.

“It takes money to raise a child,” she said.

— To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net