Young needed loan to cover cost of $300,000 birthday party

Dallas (AP) — The former financial adviser for ex-NFL quarterback Vince Young said under oath that he arranged a high-interest, seven-figure loan for Young during the 2011 lockout because the player wanted to throw himself a $300,000 birthday party even though he was running low on funds.

Ronnie Peoples, president and CEO of Peoples Financial Service Inc. in Raleigh, N.C., said during a videotaped deposition last month that he contacted New Yorkbased Pro Player Funding LLC about the loan after being informed Young had already paid for the party.

“I think we still would have been OK to go ahead and survive until the next season, but he had a birthday event coming up that he paid 300 and some thousand dollars for,” Peoples testified. “That’s what prompted that call.”

Young’s attorney, Trey Dolezal, said Peoples’ account contains numerous inaccuracies, including the statement regarding the birthday celebration.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about with the birthday party and neither does Vince,” Dolezal said.

Young is challenging a $1.7 million judgment obtained against him in New York last July by Pro Player. The sum represents the balance of $1.9 million borrowed at 20 per cent interest in the former University of Texas star’s name in May 2011. Young, who has been out of football since he was cut by the Buffalo Bills before last season, was one of more than a dozen NFL players who obtained loans from Pro Player during the lockout.

Peoples said Young’s monthly expenses were unpredictable, sometimes running as high as $200,000.

“It’s almost like I can have a $30,000 budget that I know we had to pay here, but then, you know, I get an invoice for a Ferrari that he just bought for $176,000, and they want their money,” he testified.

Dolezal said it’s possible Young was on shaky financial ground in 2011 and just didn’t know it.

“The fact is we don’t have documentation to show where about $5 to $7 million is,” he said.