He made millions of dollars as a defensive tackle in the NFL. But unfortunately for Warren Sapp, knowing how to make money on the field doesn’t necessarily equate to making it off the field.

Earlier this year the Pro Bowl great filed for bankruptcy, sighting both poor business maneuvering and excessive spending. Any millionaire’s bankruptcy is complex, but this one is just a tad bit more so, for several, little reasons.

                                                              Baby Mama Drama 

The average American family has about two children, just like Warren Sapp. He had two children with his wife of five years before getting divorced in 2003. Sounds pretty typical, doesn’t it? Well it does, except that during roughly the same time he was married, he also fathered four other children with four other women.

                                                        So Many Mouths to Feed 

We already know that Warren Sapp doesn’t have the money he once had. He is retired, and likely wouldn’t have filed for bankruptcy if he could have afforded to pay anyone back. Even still, he reportedly makes over $100,000 as a sports commentator. Not too shabby.

His bankruptcy and resulting legal proceedings are still very fresh, so few details are available. But, thanks to TMZ, we know he has requested to have his child support payments to Angela Sanders lowered from the original amount of $2,500 per month.

This surprisingly low monthly payment was established back in 2001 when he was still playing in the NFL, raking in millions of dollars every year. Why was such a small monthly payment agreed to in the first place?

                                                       A Mere Pittance for the Missus

It turns out both parties chose to add a clause to the original child support agreement stating that neither the mother nor the father could seek modification of the payment once established. We can assume Sapp was attempting to protect his burgeoning NFL fortune.

Maybe Sanders already knew something about Sapp’s character for poor decision making that the rest of us only see now in hindsight. Settling for $2,500 at the time might have seemed ludicrous considering Sapp’s millions. But her bottom line is now protected even though Sapp only brings in a paltry $100,000 per month, unless Sapp somehow succeeds in getting his payments reduced.