Divorces involving famous athletes

In honor of the legendary dynasty that is your Kansas City Chiefs who on Sunday will attempt to set an NFL record by winning their 3rd straight Lombardi Trophy, let’s take a look at some of the more interesting divorces amongst famous athletes. Although the U.S. population at large tends to get divorced in about 50% of all marriages, NFL players are estimated to have a 70% divorce rate....Ladies beware! Of course one of the biggest differences between high profile divorces and an average divorce is that these divorces involve a lot more money than your run of the mill divorce.  The money involved coupled with the fame of these athletes often results in a more public divorce than the participants likely would have chosen. The moral of the story is, if you have something significant to lose in the event your marriage fails, it's wise to protect that something before you get married.

Perhaps the first high profile divorce involving a famous professional athlete in the U.S. was that between the “It couple” New York Yankee baseball player Joe Dimaggio and the famous actress Marilyn Monroe. Joe Dimaggio, known as the Yankee Clipper, played in pin stripes from 1936-1942 and again from 1946-1951, and was selected to the All Star Game in every season he played. Ms. Monroe, know as the blonde bombshell, was an up and coming actress when the two met and Dimaggio was already retired. Monroe is most famously known for her role in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, where she puts on an iconic performance with her rendition of the song Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend.

The two were married on January 14th, 1954 and the marriage lasted a grand total of 9 months before Norma Jean called it quits and filed for divorce. Rumor has it Joltin Joe wasn’t such a great guy to be with due to hist jealous, controlling and alleged physically abusive behavior. Because of the short duration of the marriage, both parties likely walked away with what they came to the marriage with, and a good bit of life experience to boot. Dimaggio lived to be 84 years old and passed away in. 1999, while tragically Marilyn Monroe died of a drug overdose in 1962 at the young age of only 36.

One of the most recent high-profile divorces including a famous athlete involved the one and only “current” Goat, Tom Brady.  According to most sources, the relationship between Brady and his supermodel wife, Gisele Bundchen, had been deteriorating for quite some time but really came to a boiling point when Brady reneged on his plans to retire from the NFL and decided to play the entire 2022 season. Most of us can remember the drama playing out publicly with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers allowing Brady time off during the week to deal with family issues. I think we all know what those family issues were, because it became public that Gisele was not at all happy, to put it lightly, with Brady going back on his word about retiring.  In her defense, Gisele insisted she never gave Tom an ultimatum to retire from football, but rather the pair had drifted apart and that each had divergent life plans now. Given that Gisele is now pregnant by her new beau, and Tom is making a fortune in his broadcast career and has bought into the Las Vegas Raiders NFL franchise, it’s fair to say Tom’s plans involved less family time that did Gisele's. To each his own.

The “current” Goat and Bundchen tied the knot following just a one-month engagement on February 26th 2009.  They share two children together, ages 11 and 14.  Brady had a son from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan.

According to court records, both Brady and Bundchen signed a prenuptial agreement prior to their marriage, so their divorce was not quite as messy as one might have thought.  The former couple share joint custody of their two children Benjamin and Vivian. Various reports estimate Gisele’s net worth to be in the vicinity of $400 million, slightly higher than Tom’s net worth, but Tom has a broadcasting contract for $350 million over the next 9 years and is expected to make quite a bit bit more money than Gisele over that time period.  Even though his broadcasting skills are average at this point, his net worth is soon expected to surpass that of his ex-wife. 

Not all divorces involving popular athletes are as uncontentious as Tom Brady’s.  In fact the most monetarily expensive divorce among pro-athletes involved the goat from another sport, his Airness, Michael “Air” Jordan.  Jordan, who is now married to his second wife, was first married to Juanita Vanoy in 1989.  The couple shared three children together in Jeffrey, Marcus and Jasmine Jordan.  Following 17 years of marriage when they called it quits in 2006, Vanoy walked away with a cool 168 million bucks.

As Jordan's net worth was exponentially higher when he decided to get married the second time around, Mike wised up and utilized a prenuptial agreement prior to his second marriage. According to the details of the prenuptial agreement between Jordan and current wife Yvette Prieto, Mike learned his lesson when it comes to protecting his assets when entering into the marriage contract.  The prenup dictates that in the event of a divorce, Prieto will receive one million dollars for every year the couple were married, but if the marriage reaches 10 years, she will receive five million dollars for every year they were married.  The two were married in 2013, meaning if the marriage ended in divorce now, she would receive over $50 million, a tall figure for sure but not much compared to Air Jordan's estimated net worth of over $3.5 billion. They don’t call him the goat for nothing.

Although not as expensive as Jordan’s divorce, who can forget when they first heard the reports of Tiger Woods crashing into a tree and fire hydrant with his wife Elin Nordegren smashing his car windows in the driveway of their Florida home? What came out is that Tiger was committing adultery, with sport’s commentator Jim Rome nicknaming him the “Cheetah,” Woods tried to work on his marriage even pausing his golf career to enter a rehabilitation center for sex addicts.  Despite his less than chivalrous behavior during the marriage, Elin only walked away with roughly $100 million dollars at the conclusion of their divorce. According to People magazine, Nordegren was still happy with the settlement. “Money doesn’t make you happy, but I have to be honest: It is making some things easier. I have the opportunity to be with my children as much [ ] as I want, and I am able to travel to see my family and also have them come here as often as I like." Following their divorce she went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Rollin’s College in Florda, and now shares 3 children with her current love interest former NFL player Jordan Cameron. It seems she likes the athletes!

Before we conclude this topic, it will be interesting to see if any details will come out if the current hot couple in the world, Ms. Taylor Swift and our very own "killa" Travis Kelce, decide to tie the knot. For Kelce’s part he has little to worry about in the event of a divorce compared to T Swift’s financial empire. As of 2024 Kelce’s net worth was estimated to be in the $50 million neighborhood, which is peanuts compared to the pop icon’s net worth which was estimated to be over $1.5 billion. It's a love story baby just say yes...to the prenup.

These stories are entertaining but also serve as cautionary tales. If you have sizable assets, it’s important to protect those assets prior to marriage and during the divorce process by utilizing experienced quality legal representation. At the Men’s Center for Domestic Resolution located in Cass County, Missouri, we are dedicated to helping men navigate the treacherous road of divorce and other family law matters. Please call us at 816-287-1530 to schedule a consultation to learn more about how we can address your specific needs.

 GO CHIEFS!!