George Mikan is in the BB hall of fame but he ran into hard times financially. He played 10 years in the pros from 46 to 56. When he died Shaquile O’Neal paid for his funeral since he and his family had very little money.
I worked with this gentleman in the 1990s at a non-supercenter Wal-Mart. Gotta be a bit depressing to play professional football and then end up at a Wal-Mart. Despite the “Living People” link at the bottom of the page, he passed away of cancer probably about a decade ago.
A good many pro athletes don’t save money and end up broke or near broke a few years after retirement.
So…which one qualifies as “worst”, or is it pretty much a tie? 
A decade ago, there was a retired NBA player running for president.
And today we have a Baseball Hall-of-Famer blocking unemployment coverage legislation.
Thats odd, because I saw him nearly every day at Interlachen Country Club in Edina Minnesota in the 90s. He was pretty well off and had a ton of friends.
The story about Shaq paying for Mikan’s funeral was widely reported in 05 when Mikan died. Maybe he lost a lot of money due to bad investments late in life.
I work with an ex college and pro football player, and we hate our jobs. So sitting in a chair, staring at spreadsheets, and sending joke e-mails qualifies.
Ha ha…guess it depends. I can think of worse things than being surrounded by a few dozen women, although the team website doesn’t really have any good pictures of the players without facemasks and equipment.
J.R. Richard, a superb pitcher (and former strikeout king) for the Houston Astros in the lates Seventies and Early Eighties, suffered a debilitating stroke, and wound up homeless and sleeping under a highway overpass.
http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/sports2000/players/172526.html
I remember when Richard had the stroke – he was one of the (if not the) top pitchers in the game at the time, and he never was able to return to playing.
That article’s a decade old…my hope is that the ending of his story is still a good one. What happened to him was truly tragic.
Yep,
His Medical insurance ran out. He had diabetes and kidney problems that required regular dialisys. While he did have financial problems at the end of his life. He had health problems, but his was a life of luxury…by Minnesota standards anyway.
astorian’s post on J.R. Richard reminded me of another one…
Travis Williams was a running back and kick returner for the Packers. In 1967, his rookie season (and Lombardi’s final season as Packer coach), Williams set the NFL single-season records for kickoff return average (41.1 yards per return), and for kickoff return touchdowns (4, on only 18 returns).
He wound up playing 5 seasons in the NFL (four with Green Bay, one with the Rams), but a knee injury ended his career.
After his playing days, he held a variety of minor jobs (including junk hauler), but struggled with depression, homelessness, and alcohol. He died at age 45, after suffering from liver and kidney problems.
His NYT obit: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/obituaries/travis-williams-45-green-bay-packers-star.html
His stats: Travis Williams Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College | Pro-Football-Reference.com
One of my Jr High teachers was an Ex pro*-football player. Teaching 12yr olds is about as degrading as it gets. 
*[sub]Although it was the 70’s Saints so there is some debate as to if it counts.[/sub]
Former Chicago Bulls All-Star Bob Love was working as a dishwasher and busboy in the 1980’s. He had a severe stuttering problem which, as Wiki puts it, “prevented him from finding meaningful employment after his playing days were over”.
Finally he went in for speech therapy and found a second career as a community relations rep and motivational speaker.
One of my hs classmates got a couple of seasons with the NFL. He’s now teaching high school PE and coaching the football team.
IMO the only thing worse than taking a PE class would be having to teach one. 
We had a former NFL player substituting at our junior high in the early 80s. That couldn’t have been fun, especially after being told you were so good in HS and college.
While at a gas station in Chicagoland more than a few years ago, Bob Love just so happened to drive in and filled up. I looked up at him 
and said hi, which he returned. I later found out that he became a spokesperson for those with speech impediments after he overcame his speech problem. I looked up at him once again.
Joe Louis quite famously fell on tax trouble and hard times after his career was over and had to do anything he could to get money. Eventually the IRS stopped chasing after him because he was so far in the hole he’d never be able to pay them what he owed.
Ernie Lombardi, the baseball Hall of Famer, ended up doing a lot of shit jobs after his career ended, and tried to commit suicide at one point.