NFL Players Foiled In Scheme

January 23, 2000 / 6:55 PM EST / CBS/AP

Fred Taylor of the Jacksonville Jaguars lost about $3 million in a fraud scheme that ensnared more than a dozen NFL players, The Miami Herald reported Sunday.

The running back lost his entire $5 million signing bonus more than $3 million after taxes from the six-year contract he signed as a rookie in 1998 after investing in the scheme, the newspaper said.

Taylor says he questioned agent William "Tank" Black about his investment but received only "lame excuses."

"I'd just sit there and take shots in the face every day, telling myself, 'Try to stay calm.' If I had a bad heart, any kind of mean streak in me, that's something you kill people for. Almost $3 million, whatever it is," Taylor said.

"But I've been pretty good. I never sat back and asked him why. Maybe when he's convicted, that's something that I would probably want to ask."

Aside from Taylor, former University of Florida stars Reidel Anthony, Jacquez Green and Ike Hilliard lost money.

So did former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth, who is in a Charlotte, N.C., jail charged with murdering his pregnant girlfriend. In the weeks leading to the murder, people close to Carruth said he complained of money problems.

Some funds and assets from the scheme have been frozen or seized by the federal government. Among the assets is a $7.2 million home on the Fort Lauderdale waterfront purchased by Michael Gause, who is charged with running the operation.

Black, 42, of Columbia, S.C., became the center of an investigation by the University of Florida police last spring. At the time, the investigation centered on possible illegal inducements Black gave to former Gators Jevon Kearse, Reggie McGrew and Johnny Rutledge.

All three players have admitted wrongdoing in affidavits. Rutledge has gone public saying he took money.

After the investigation began, all three players fired Black and hired agent Leigh Steinberg.

Black was charged in October with unlicensed agent activity in Florida. If convicted, he could face a $5,000 fine and up to 15 years in prison.

Once the NFL season is finished, Kearse and Taylor are expected to testify.

Assistant U.S. attorneys Steve Peikin in New York and Jrry Sanford in Gainesville declined comment.

Black has not been charged in the scheme, and his lawyers maintain he was duped just as much as the players.

That claim is backed by evidence from the indictment of Gause, who is charged with heading the $300 million scheme. Gause is being held in a federal detention center in New York.

Taylor says he knows it will take time for him to recover his financial losses.

"I'm real smart with my money," he said. "My base (salary) is a lot more than a lot of other guys, so my lifestyle is not going to change. I'm a survivor."