Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 12, 2023; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens arrives on the red carpet before the 2023 ESPYS at the Dolby Theatre.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens amassed nearly $80 million during his 15 seasons in the NFL for five different teams, and made a pretty healthy sum of money in endorsement deals during that time as well.
But if you fast-forward to 2026, Owens’ financial outlook isn’t all that great.
The polarizing superstar wide receiver recently accused his longtime manager, Heather Mesalam, of stealing money from him across several years and using numerous different methods.
Now, Owens is opening up, not only about his money troubles, but also about where things went wrong and what he’s doing to try to fix it.
Terrell Owens Says That His Money ‘Was Just Missing’
Owens recently spoke with Front Office Sports during its Huddle in the Hamptons event and explained that the people with whom he entrusted his money may not have been acting in his best interest.
“I trusted those individuals to manage my financials, and that’s where things took a dive,” he said.
Owens noted that it was important to him, when he signed with famed agent Drew Rosenhaus in 2005, that he also hired someone to manage his financials, so that he could focus on football.
“In order to be the Hall of Famer that I am today, that’s what I did,” Owens said. “I really honed in [during] the offseason, working on my craft and trying to be the best football player that I could be.
“I told him, like, I need somebody to manage the finance part of my portfolio, because the first agent, he pretty much did everything.”
The premise makes sense. Owens was in the prime of his career when he left the San Francisco 49ers for the Philadelphia Eagles (with a brief stint in Baltimore in between), and at the time he was considered perhaps the best wide receiver in the league alongside Randy Moss and Marvin Harrison.
But as his career wound down, he began to notice that things weren’t quite right.
“That’s when we noticed that some of my finances were all over the place, and it wasn’t as much as I thought it was,” he said.
Things Got Bad For Terrell Owens, But Could Have Been Much Worse
According to Owens, things that were supposed to be taken care of weren’t getting paid.
“Even with the amount of money that I was being paid, they were late on payments; they weren’t paying on some things,” he noted. “Then, all of a sudden, money was just missing.”
Ultimately, Owens says that forensic accountants discovered another bank account that had been opened using his power of attorney without his knowledge.
At one point, Owens had just $500,000 in savings. While that may seem like a lot, it’s a far cry from where he started. He’s since rebuilt his wealth through various media and event appearances.
But the story could have had a far different ending.
“If I was just a 10-year guy who wasn’t a Hall of Famer, honestly, I’d be struggling.”
It just goes to show the pitfalls that come with extreme wealth, especially when you’re not aware of how your money is being handled.