In 2012, when ESPN made an attempt to dig into lives of the retired sports stars, it brought a revolution. Revolution in a sense that, it launched a show entitled “Broke” which was a unique on its kind and showed the bankruptcy of millionaire athletes.
It shed light into the lives of many ex-athletes who either went bankrupt or drowned in the pool of debt. Directed by Billy Corben, the show tried to paint a vivid picture of the many factors that drain athletes’ bank accounts.
When ESPN’s critically acclaimed show “Broke” went on-air, what did the former baseball payer, Eric Keith Davis had to say about it?
Being a black athlete, he defended his fellow black athletes saying that it was not just the black athletes who lost their money in bad investment.
The former central fielder said everyone makes mistakes and we all are flawed. And he added that most of the black American players feel a unique pressure to help their family and friends who belong to the same community. Well, Davis makes sense here.
Despite suffering millions of problems in his years-old baseball career, Davis is still known as one of the best athletes of all time. He sustained numerous injuries and even fought colon cancer and survived. But he still remains in the same height as before.
This history making baseball player from Cincinnati Reds and many other clubs made his entry into the big leagues at the age of 21 and made millions but he never let himself waver from the right track.
When people get famous, they ought to try out everything they wish for. Either Hollywood celebrities or business tycoons or the sports stars, once you are famous there’s no turning back from the coveted lime light, media attention and of course the hawk-eyed paparazzi.
They party hard, attend award functions, go to clubs late night, date pretty girls, spend nights with hot girls, spend money in expensive brands of clothes, shoes and perfumes, cruise around the world and much more. What else would you do when you have million dollars in your pocket? Spend it… it’s as simple as that.
But unlike most of the ruined celebrities, Davis still leads a normal life with more media praise then gossips.
Blessed with a rare combination of excellent foot speed and bat speed, Davis became the first major league player to hit at least 30 home runs and steal at least 50 bases in the same season in 1987.
He has been married to Sherrie Davis and has two children. He and his wife Davis now reside in his hometown Los Angeles and wants to make his life a diverse one.
"I do a little bit of everything," Davis said. "I'm an entrepreneur. I do real estate. I'm in music. I do a lot of different things. I enjoy different challenges."
He thinks that protecting money as a human is more important than protecting money as an athlete. He also suggests, “I mean instead of putting Broke on there, you can watch what the Mets owners went through.
You can sit here and see (CNBC’s) American Greed. Guys have taken millions away from Harvard-educated grads. So it’s no different. If you trust somebody, and things come up in a different way, and you don’t know who to invest with, and who you don’t know who to trust, one thing leads to another.
“The majority of black athletes, you not only have yourself, you have a whole family, you have a whole race to take care of. People don’t look at that.
When you come out of the ghetto sometimes, it’s not that Eric Davis made it, it’s the community. We made it. So you feel obligated to help.”
The sports icon is active on social media and shares inspirational photos and tweets on his Twitter and Instagram. There’s so much for the future athletes to learn from this baseball legend's life.