Most people in the Pittsburgh area, and fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers, know Charlie Batch as a great person and a decent backup quarterback. You usually hear stories of all of the charitable work that Batch does for the Pittsburgh community, most notably his hometown of Homestead, a suburb of Pittsburgh.
I grew up and live in the same community that Batch grew up in and even attended the same high school (Steel Valley) as Batch. Batch gets treated like royalty in the Homestead/Munhall area because of the "charitable" work that he does.
Not saying that the neigborhood doesn't appreciate what he does, or has done, but Batch is far from a hero and definitely far from a saint.
Batch was also respected as a role model for the young kids in the urban neighborhood of Homestead. Batch is considered a very smart man who cares about more than football. Batch has seemed to always understand his role as Ben Roethlisberger's backup. Batch also was thought to have a better after-football life than most athletes.
Batch had put a lot of his money in the real estate business and was trying to renovate most of the Homestead area.
Unfortunately for Batch, news broke earlier this week that a federal bankruptcy judge is allowing Primerock Real Estate Fund, owed $820,000 by the Steelers' backup quarterback, to continue its legal pursuit of what the 36-year-old Batch used as collateral to obtain a loan in November 2009,according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Now, Batch wouldn't be the first or last pro-athlete to lose his money—and he won't be the last. Batch also won't be the first or last NFL player to sell something as valuable and rare as a Super Bowl ring. Batch apparently filed for bankruptcy in December. He claims he owes $8.29 million in liabilities and only has $2.3 million in assets. Media reports originally indicated that Primerock would pursue Batch’s two Super Bowl rings, but a Fund representative later said it hopes to strike a deal with Batch instead.
I don't know all the facts, but it sounds like Batch is getting bit in the butt by the economy. And I'd have to guess that his assets don't include the 25 houses mentioned, although I guess it could if that was the vast majority of his assets.
What sucks for most of these million dollar athletes, is the choices they make with their money in the beginning. Most of them don't even know how or where their money is going, because they made one decision years ago to let so-and-so take care of their finances.
A lot of these guys don't have the time or (I hate to say it) mental aptitude to make everyday decisions with their own money. So they pay someone else to do that and as I said, the athlete usually has no clue where their money is tied up at.
Some might feel bad for Batch, and some might think that what's happening to him isn't fair, but Batch had to have known the risk he was taking in this current economy. The scary thing for Batch is that there might not even be a season this year. Better start filling out the job applications, Chuck...
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