Former NFL wideout, Terrell Owens is having money issues. I’m going to take his situation and turn it into a teaching moment for anyone who believes that brokering their eggs for child support payments is a lifetime lottery ticket.

T.O. is currently seeking a reduction in child support payments for 3 of his 4 kids. TMZ (of course) has the breakdown:

Baby Mama #1, Monique Reynolds
T.O. and Monique have an 11-year-old son together. According to the papers, he paid $20,000/month in support until last year, when it was reduced to $11,202. He also gave her $100,000 to buy a house.

Baby Mama #2, Kimberly Floyd
They share a 7-year-old daughter, for whom TO was ordered to pay $20,000/month for back in 2005. In 2008, they agreed to drop that to $15,000.

Baby Mama #3, Samelia Miller
Miller gave birth to a son back in 2006. He was ordered to pay $13,400/month in support.

Baby Mama #4, Melanie Paige Smith
T.O. was ordered to pay $5,000/month for their daughter back in 2007. This is the only case where T.O. has not yet requested a reduction … though his rep says he plans to ask for a modification.

In each of the cases where T.O. is requesting a reduction in child support payments, he says in his declaration, “My currently monthly income is zero ($0).”

In the papers, T.O. also claims to pay $62,366/month for various properties and says his home in Georgia is in foreclosure. He says he put all but two of his homes up for sale.

Can I point out a few things here:

1. Take note that with each kid, the amount of the payments got lower. So if you’re Baby’s mama 2B you’re already starting out behind.

2. I don’t know how many homes are in the “all” category but again he has homes in foreclosure and he’s selling off the others just to generate income. At this point, you’re earning capacity is probably exceeding T.O.’s

3. All of this is public fodder.

The end of an athlete’s career who didn’t formulate an exit strategy is a sad thing. Child support isn’t taxed, nor is it considered income. I sincerely hope that the mothers put their children first and set up trusts, college funds etc. $20,000 a month for 11 years is $2.6 Mil, if you as a mother squandered that away and your child isn’t protected, it says a lot.