Bears' Duerson Had Less Than $20K In Assets At Time Of Death

By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 7, 2012 11:26PM

More details into the life of former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson were disclosed today. According to the Miami New Times, an appraisal of Duerson's assets after his suicide had a total value of $19,500. That's disturbingly low and sad for a man who once had his own brand of breakfast sausage.

New Times reporter Gus Garcia-Roberts writes:

"A bankruptcy trustee oversaw the auction of Duerson's 2002 Cadillac Escalade. It went for $6,000.

"At Duerson's death scene, according to documents filed by the bankruptcy trustee in court, police collected some of the valuables from his house. Those included his "Super Bowl rings, personal property, and other memorabilia."

"The cops then gave the item's to Dave's family. In June, the trustee-- who, in fairness, was tasked with a pretty morbid job-- worked to get a list of the items from police. She then negotiated a price with the family for the valuables: $3,000.

"The trustee also valued Duerson's stalled business consulting company DD Favor, LLC at $3,000, miscellaneous items at $7,000, and two 17-year-old lithographs at $500."

Duerson grossly exaggerated his future prospects when he filed for bankruptcy. In his assets filing, he listed a $34.5 million judgment related to his failed sausage company that was unrecoverable.

Two weeks ago, Duerson's family filed a lawsuit against the National Football League and helmet maker Riddell, claiming the two parties knew the severity of the aftereffects of concussions on players and intentionally hid that knowledge from players, coaches and fans. Duerson's brain was donated to science for research. A study of his brain indicated he suffered from signs of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a progressive degenerative disease found in individuals who have been subjected to multiple concussions and other forms of head injury.