Another former Charger dies young, RIP - Chris Mims (unemployed, buy)

[benshaton]

This is a sad story about the post career life of the defensive lineman of 1994's AFC Championship team.

About 78 percent of players are bankrupt, unemployed or divorced within two years of leaving the NFL, according to statistics cited for the past 15 years by retired player advocates. For Mims, the fall was much steeper.

“When you play football, you walk into places and you're the guy,” his lifelong friend Jaime Shepherd said. “You have this persona. You have money. But once you're not that guy anymore, you can't go to the bar and buy everybody's drinks. You can't take care of your mother. You can't take care of your friends.”

During his final years, Mims couldn't take care of himself, friends said. He became reclusive and depressed, and lived on disability payments. He evaded bill collectors. He drank and overate alone, hiding his burgeoning girth.

Read the full story:

A fallen star's burnout

[bloom]

Some go too early:
Len Bias
Flo Hyman
Thurmon Munson