February 22, 2011
Former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson, who killed himself Thursday in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., had filed for personal bankruptcy last September, still listing as an asset a $34.6 million federal court judgment his food company had won in 2004.
Without that cash, Duerson, whose NFL career ended in 1994, was weighed down by liabilities of $14.7 million, mostly related to his food company which was forced into receivership in 2006.
In December, his ex-wife, Alicia Duerson, said he still owed her $70,000 and claimed he was concealing certain assets, including his two Super Bowl rings and a large bronze trophy for being named the Walter Payton Man of the Year in 1987. His list of assets didn't include those items.
The $34.6 million represented a 2004 judgment his former company, Duerson Foods LLC, had won but never collected against a company that filed for bankruptcy in April 2005. In 2007, Duerson told the Tribune he still was hopeful of collecting the judgment.
"I've got $34.592 million reasons to be positive'' he said.
His bankruptcy filing said, "Debtor's ex-wife is entitled to 30 percent to 50 percent of judgment if collected.''
Explaining why the Super Bowl rings and trophy might not have been listed as assets, Duerson's lawyer, Zach Shelomith, said he understood their ownership had been transferred several years ago to the Dave Duerson Foundation and that the mementos would be displayed in a sports Hall of Fame in Indiana or Illinois.
Shelomith, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said his client was working out the dispute with his ex-wife.
Alicia Duerson's lawyer, David Langley, declined comment.
Duerson's other listed assets included $846 in a checking account and a 2002 Cadillac Escalade with 140,000 miles, valued at $5,750.
In 2007, Duerson acknowledged his financial troubles to the Tribune. At the time a foreclosure action had been initiated against his Highland Park home, which he had mortgaged to prop up his food company. His company had been forced into receivership in 2006.
In April 2004, Duerson sued a freezer supplier that he believed had caused major problems for his company and himself. Later that year a U.S. district court in eastern Wisconsin ruled in Duerson's favor, saying the company owed him $34 million in damages.
Shelomith said "things were looking good for his bankruptcy case. He seemed extremely upbeat. I see clients with financial problems all the time who are in a lot worse shape than him. When I saw the news on TV, I was shocked."
In one October filing, Duerson said he was trying to end a $379-a-month storage lease in Morton Grove where he had stashed a Chippendale desk purchased new in 1998; a remote-control "high-rise bar;" a dismantled 1987 Brunswick pool table; four black metal bar stools; and two black directors' chairs.
"I can't begin to put a value to this stuff as it has been impossible to sell any of it and even difficult to give the stuff away!" Duerson said in a memo filed with the court. And "no one wants to pick it up to sell."
He also said he had his sons' two trumpets from when they were in grade school.
"They are now 25 and 26 years old," Duerson noted in the memo. "At any rate, they can have everything in storage as I need to eliminate that $375-$400 a month ASAP! Thank you! DRD."
Former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson, who killed himself Thursday in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., had filed for personal bankruptcy last September, still listing as an asset a $34.6 million federal court judgment his food company had won in 2004.
Without that cash, Duerson, whose NFL career ended in 1994, was weighed down by liabilities of $14.7 million, mostly related to his food company which was forced into receivership in 2006.
In December, his ex-wife, Alicia Duerson, said he still owed her $70,000 and claimed he was concealing certain assets, including his two Super Bowl rings and a large bronze trophy for being named the Walter Payton Man of the Year in 1987. His list of assets didn't include those items.
The $34.6 million represented a 2004 judgment his former company, Duerson Foods LLC, had won but never collected against a company that filed for bankruptcy in April 2005. In 2007, Duerson told the Tribune he still was hopeful of collecting the judgment.
"I've got $34.592 million reasons to be positive'' he said.
His bankruptcy filing said, "Debtor's ex-wife is entitled to 30 percent to 50 percent of judgment if collected.''
Explaining why the Super Bowl rings and trophy might not have been listed as assets, Duerson's lawyer, Zach Shelomith, said he understood their ownership had been transferred several years ago to the Dave Duerson Foundation and that the mementos would be displayed in a sports Hall of Fame in Indiana or Illinois.
Shelomith, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said his client was working out the dispute with his ex-wife.
Alicia Duerson's lawyer, David Langley, declined comment.
Duerson's other listed assets included $846 in a checking account and a 2002 Cadillac Escalade with 140,000 miles, valued at $5,750.
In 2007, Duerson acknowledged his financial troubles to the Tribune. At the time a foreclosure action had been initiated against his Highland Park home, which he had mortgaged to prop up his food company. His company had been forced into receivership in 2006.
In April 2004, Duerson sued a freezer supplier that he believed had caused major problems for his company and himself. Later that year a U.S. district court in eastern Wisconsin ruled in Duerson's favor, saying the company owed him $34 million in damages.
Shelomith said "things were looking good for his bankruptcy case. He seemed extremely upbeat. I see clients with financial problems all the time who are in a lot worse shape than him. When I saw the news on TV, I was shocked."
In one October filing, Duerson said he was trying to end a $379-a-month storage lease in Morton Grove where he had stashed a Chippendale desk purchased new in 1998; a remote-control "high-rise bar;" a dismantled 1987 Brunswick pool table; four black metal bar stools; and two black directors' chairs.
"I can't begin to put a value to this stuff as it has been impossible to sell any of it and even difficult to give the stuff away!" Duerson said in a memo filed with the court. And "no one wants to pick it up to sell."
He also said he had his sons' two trumpets from when they were in grade school.
"They are now 25 and 26 years old," Duerson noted in the memo. "At any rate, they can have everything in storage as I need to eliminate that $375-$400 a month ASAP! Thank you! DRD."
341 Meeting: September 2010
November 2010
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