Former Texas quarterback Vince Young files for bankruptcy, still hopes for another NFL shot

1/23/2014

AUSTIN, Texas -- Former Texas quarterback Vince Young has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but his Austin attorney told the Austin American-Statesman that a frustrated Young continues to pursue his NFL career and that he has been in contact with several teams.

Brian Kilmer, Young’s Houston attorney, filed the petition last week in a Houston federal bankruptcy court on Young’s behalf. According to the Houston Chronicle, Young was listed with estimated assets between $500,001 and $1 million and liabilities between $1,001,000 and $10 million. No specific details on Young’s assets and liabilities were available.

’’Vince is trying to stay low and just wants this over with,” said Trey Dolezal, Young’s Austin-based personal attorney. “He was so happy and relieved when we reached a financial settlement (in December, three days before a trial was to begin), but Vince is owed several million dollars, and that has not been paid. I would say he is very frustrated.”

Young has been embroiled in a pair of lawsuits stemming from a $1.8 million loan obtained in his name during the 2011 NFL lockout, though Dolezal said Young saw little to none of that money. A New York state court has granted a judgment against Young to Pro Player Funding, the New York company that made the loan to Young and his associates, which along with interest has grown to more than $2.5 million, a Pro Player attorney told the Chronicle.

Pro Player Funding has made several efforts in a Harris County state district court to enforce collection of the judgment, but those efforts remain pending.

Young in turn sued a group that included his former financial adviser, Ronnie Peoples of Raleigh, N.C., and Young’s former agent, Major Adams II of Houston. Dolezal claims that the defendants defrauded him and conspired with Pro Player Funding to obtain the loan. Dolezal contends that Peoples got that money and “Vince basically got nothing.”

Lawyers in December said a settlement had been reached in the Peoples case, but that agreement has not been finalized. The Chronicle reported that documents filed in that case include a financial statement as of July 2013 that listed Young and his wife, Candice, with assets totaling $1.8 million and liabilities totaling $2.5 million, including the New York state judgment.

Young’s assets included five cars, his home in Houston, NFL annuity and 401(k) funds and jewelry valued at about $200,000. Young and his wife currently live in an Austin condominium. He has worked as a consultant for the University of Texas, but Dolezal does not know how much Young was paid.

A Harris County district judge granted a temporary restraining order that prohibited Young from wasting or dissipating assets and limited him to $25,000 in monthly household expenses, including child support. Dolezal said Young pursued bankruptcy to keep Pro Player Funding from harassing him and said the next step would call for the judge to appoint a trustee to oversee the case.

Dolezal said Young, 30, is optimistic he might latch onto an NFL team this spring. Since his five seasons with the Tennessee Titans from 2006-10, he played sparingly as a backup for the Philadelphia Eagles and then had tryouts with Buffalo and Green Bay but did not make those clubs’ rosters. But he’s still hopeful for an audition.

’’He’s planning on it,” Dolezal said without knowing which teams are talking to Young. “He’s working out every day, and he’s focused on it. If he can get into a system in the spring, that would be the best thing for him.”