04/19/24
March 12, 2009
With Nine Mouths to Feed, Travis Henry Says He’s Broke: Travis Henry was rattling off his children’s ages, which range from 3 to 11. He paused and took a breath before finishing.This was no simple task. Henry, 30, a former N.F.L. running back who played for three teams from 2001 to 2007, has nine children — each by a different mother, some born as closely as a few months apart.
That's impressive. Stupid, yes, but someone has to set the bar. Magnificent boobery.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:36 PM on March 12, 2009
Travis is stupid, that is obvious. But some of the apparent child support payments he's required to make seem a bit ridiculous, especially if he winds up never playing football again. I mean, what does a 4-year old need that would cost $3,000 a month? That's $36,000 a year, more than many actual families have per year to spend on a husband, wife, two kids, mortgage, food, vehicles, clothes, insurance, etc.
posted by dyams at 05:50 AM on March 13, 2009
I mean, what does a 4-year old need that would cost $3,000 a month? That's $36,000 a year, more than many actual families have per year to spend on a husband, wife, two kids, mortgage, food, vehicles, clothes, insurance, etc.
Those payments were probably based on his salary at the time (4yr, $25M). He was a millionaire who squandered the money he made, got himself suspended from the league and the rest of his contract voided.
$170,000 a year in child support for 18 years would equal $3.06M which is less than half of the $6.7M he made even before he fucked his contract up. There's no way that half of his salary to support 9 kids is unfair.
posted by dfleming at 08:14 AM on March 13, 2009
I mean, what does a 4-year old need that would cost $3,000 a month?
Child support is not to buy the kids clothes and toys. It's to pay rent, utilities, health insurance, child care, pay into the college fund, soccer classes, art classes, gymboree. Day care alone could take a half of that sum in the DC area. You can survive without all that stuff, but why should you have to if your father is a millionaire.
posted by bperk at 10:59 AM on March 13, 2009
The mantra before Western Pacific port calls on USS Midway was always, "Think with the big head, not the little head." Of course, this was more to try to prevent STDs than to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Nonetheless, Travis Henry could have used this advice.
posted by Howard_T at 04:55 PM on March 13, 2009
Child support is not to buy the kids clothes and toys. It's to pay rent, utilities, health insurance, child care, pay into the college fund, soccer classes, art classes, gymboree. Day care alone could take a half of that sum in the DC area. You can survive without all that stuff, but why should you have to if your father is a millionaire.
Well, if the guy is broke now and no longer has an NFL contract or future, I can foresee the kids getting that $3,000 cut rather substantially. I somehow don't see Travis Henry as being someone who saved his money and planned well for his future. So the kids get accustomed to living on this much per month, and soon they have to learn to live on a hell of a lot less? It's ridiculous and sad.
posted by dyams at 05:28 PM on March 13, 2009
Howard, I was visiting San Diego last month and took the USS Midway tour. It was great and I recommend it to anyone.
posted by Miles1996 at 05:57 PM on March 13, 2009
So the kids get accustomed to living on this much per month, and soon they have to learn to live on a hell of a lot less? It's ridiculous and sad.
Yeah, damn those kids and their lavish lifestyles.
posted by dfleming at 06:39 PM on March 13, 2009
Actually, child support is to buy the kids cloths, seems as if clothing ought to be one of the basic necessities. And, while $3,000 seems high, I agree that daycare can eat up an awful lot of it.
As to the guy being broke now, he can try to renegotiate his payments, but depending on laws in the various states, it may not matter that he pissed the money away.
I have less than zero sympathy for Henry. He created his own mess, and he needs to deal with it, and the children should not suffer due to his reckless behavior.
posted by dviking at 08:28 PM on March 13, 2009
If he would have worn his cup off the field, he wouldn't have nine kids. With the money he made,I show no sympathy for him. He deserves everything the child support judges throw at him.
posted by Doehead at 08:27 AM on March 14, 2009
Let's not forget the females who also tend to jump at the idea of having a child by a NFL football player (or any pro athlete). For as big a jackass as Henry is, the old saying, "It takes two to tango," seems to ring true in this situation. Did every one of these women not know a thing about the many types of birth control? Did they believe they were doing themselves a wonderful deed by letting a man-whore like Travis have unprotected sex with them? Did they all believe he'd automatically marry them and they'd live happily ever after? This entire, terrible situation is played out by "adults" (I use that term very loosely in this instance) and use the children that are the result as their pawns.
posted by dyams at 10:14 AM on March 14, 2009
Did every one of these women not know a thing about the many types of birth control? Did they believe they were doing themselves a wonderful deed by letting a man-whore like Travis have unprotected sex with them? Did they all believe he'd automatically marry them and they'd live happily ever after? This entire, terrible situation is played out by "adults" (I use that term very loosely in this instance) and use the children that are the result as their pawns.
Yes, apologize for the one man involved by blaming the nine women involved. Unbelievable.
posted by dfleming at 11:21 AM on March 14, 2009
Travis Henry's child support obligations are extremely low, compared to what other parents are paying. $170,000 in yearly child support is only 12 percent of Henry's $1.34 million yearly income over his five-year deal, and it only amounts to $18,000 per child. Many states would make a non-custodial parent earning $100,000 pay more than that in per-child support -- one calculator I checked set it at 20 percent of income.
This clown is unbelievable. How in the world could he blow through all of that money and father nine kids he didn't intend to raise by age 30? If the money really is gone, I can't imagine he'll be able to do anything post-football that will enable him to support all of those children.
I mean, what does a 4-year old need that would cost $3,000 a month?
If his mom's a stay-at-home parent, the house, health insurance, utilities and food could eat up $2,000 a month easy. And since dad's a millionaire, you'd think he might want more for the kid, like a private school and a college fund.
There's also the shortness of NFL careers and Henry's post-football income prospects. $36,000 a year for five years is $180,000. If the judge assumed that Henry wouldn't earn anything after that, it would amount to $10,000 a year in child support for 18 years.
posted by rcade at 11:54 AM on March 14, 2009
If he would have worn his cup off the field, he wouldn't have nine kids.
doehead, we need to have a heart-to-heart before you get into some Travis Henry-style trouble of your own -- assume you're not firing blanks, that is.
(totally unrelated story: do guys get vasectomies any more? I know one guy who did after having two kids, but I get the sense that it's become a lot less common than it used to)
posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:16 PM on March 14, 2009
do guys get vasectomies any more? I know one guy who did after having two kids, but I get the sense that it's become a lot less common than it used to
I think that I read somewhere (can't find it right now) that middle-class, white men are having more vasectomies than ever before but that everyone else is either the same or down a bit.
posted by dfleming at 09:20 PM on March 14, 2009
From the article:
Attending the annual N.F.L. rookie symposium as a 2001 draft pick of the Buffalo Bills, Henry watched a skit that dramatized the repercussions of imprudent sexual activity. It might as well have been geared toward him.
Henry laughed through the sketch. "I thought, That ain't ever going to happen to me,' " he said.
"Ain't ever going to happen to me?!?" He already had four kids by four moms! A little bit of self awareness goes a long way.
As would a lifetime supply of condoms. Or, as mentioned above, a vasectomy.
posted by cjets at 10:50 PM on March 14, 2009
Reality show time! TH: The Real Housewives of Travis Henry. Either that or the new United Football League.
posted by Newbie Walker at 11:44 PM on March 14, 2009
I remember reading an article a few months ago that said something to the effect of most doctors will try to talk any unwed male patients under the age of 30 out of getting a vasectomy. Something about them still being young and how it it could cause problems if their potential future spouse wants to have kids.
posted by MrFrisby at 11:58 PM on March 14, 2009
MrFrisby, if true, that's just plain stupid. Sure, it can problems if your potential future spouse wants to have kids and you can't be the sperm donor, but if the reason why you can't is that you don't want to have kids, that's kind of a deal-breaker too. People who a)want to have children and b)it's got to be their biological children are just not a good match for people who don't want to have children.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:31 PM on March 15, 2009
Travis Henry's child support obligations are extremely low, compared to what other parents are paying.
Yeah, I was surprised by that - I assume there mus be a cap on the top amount that will be paid; this is the case in New Zealand (non-custodial parent's income is capped at something like $80k p.a. for calculation purposes). But I know people paying over $2k per month because they earn that cap or above it.
People ragging on the amount being "too high" need to come up with some cogent explanation why the children of a rich parent who abandons them ought to live the life of a pauper. You want to sire 11 kids, you better be able to support them.
I do feel sorry for the 11 kids, in this picture. Their 'father' - in the loosest sense of the word - is a dumbass who appears intent on shirking even the most basic of his responsibilities. Not a great start in life.
do guys get vasectomies any more?
I will be when I've had all the kids I want. Given there's still a lot of "hurf-durf you aren't a real man any more" reactions to a vasectomy, though, I'm kind of unsurprised a guy in a macho profession might not.
MrFrisby, if true, that's just plain stupid.
Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. You'd need an accurate picture of how many people change their minds, really.
posted by rodgerd at 05:35 PM on March 15, 2009
I couldn't find the article I was referring to, but here is one that is fairly close. And here's a related article.
posted by MrFrisby at 06:05 PM on March 15, 2009
Shawn Kemp is impressed with young Travis Henry. Screamin' Jay Hawkins, on the other hand, is not. I find it hard to sympathize with Travis. At some point (probably child number three or four), you should get smart to this kind of thing, and re-evaluate your dating/mating habits and choices. The mantra before Western Pacific port calls on USS Midway was always, "Think with the big head, not the little head." But I've always found out the big head doesn't work too well after 10-12 Asahis/Sapporos/Bintangs/San Miguels/Tigers/etc (currently stationed in Yoko).
posted by Bonkers at 02:48 AM on March 16, 2009
Bonkers, you forgot Singha from Thailand.
Give my regards to Yokosuka. My 2 1/2 years on USS Midway was the best job I ever had.
posted by Howard_T at 03:26 PM on March 16, 2009
I think that I read somewhere (can't find it right now) that middle-class, white men are having more vasectomies than ever before but that everyone else is either the same or down a bit.
If I got a vasectomy, I would be "down a bit" as well.
Travis Henry is a freakin' idiot for not only having children out of wedlock but to have 9(!) children out of wedlock. He doesn't need a vasectomy, he just needs to get his junk cut off and call it a day!
posted by BornIcon at 02:49 PM on March 18, 2009
Who is gonna sign this guy when he can be tripped up so easily? Seems like people are forever getti caught from behind around him.