Tarell Brown the San Francisco 49ers cornerback, shocked fans, athletes, and bean counters alike when he voided a $2million escalator in his contract.

 

How? By not participating in the team's voluntary offseason program.

 

All he had to do is show up.

 

When I heard this story my first reaction was here is another rich athlete showing no regard for money. $2million is significant a amount of money, even to the rich.  

 

Is he really this arrogant?

 

But after learning the whole story and doing some 'rithmetic,' I quickly discerned that something went terribly wrong. 

 

Brown is not a top-shelf earner in his profession, and like you and me, $2million is a heck of a lot of money to him. It's crazy to believe he would leave that kind of cash on the table. While it is not unusual for players to forego a workout bonus of $75,000 (still insane), $2million is a horse of a different color. For him, it'is approximately a third of the money he has made to date in football. Thus, $2million could have had an enormous impact for Brown and his family.

 

So here's the $2million question: who's responsible?

 

Brown?  His now former agent?

 

My first thought was that Brown should accept a certain amount of responsibility for 'not reading' his contract. But after reviewing my own mortgage forms, I quickly realized that unless Brown had some exceptional knowledge of legal terms, understanding a sophisticated contract would be difficult. 

 

For this very reason, professional athletes hire agents. Agents are responsible for negotiating, reviewing, and explaining the contract. I understand this on basic terms; frankly, it took the movie Legally Blonde to help me realize that the agent a fiduciary duty to his or her client.