Ray Crockett was fortunate to play 14 seasons in the NFL and to earn two Super Bowl rings.

In retirement, he has not been so lucky.

The former Denver Broncos cornerback, accustomed to being in the sports pages rather than the business section, has lost millions of dollars in not one but two alleged investment scams.

Readers may recall that Crockett had $3.7 million parked in hedge funds run by Kirk Wright, an Atlanta money manager who is in jail awaiting trial.

Former Broncos Crockett, Steve Atwater and Terrell Davis, along with wide receiver Rod Smith, are among the football players who sued Wright and his company, International Management Associates, in early 2006.

The story has made national headlines. But it's not the only financial fiasco in Crockett's life.

Crockett, a Bronco from 1994 to 2000, also handed money to Rick Norton, a San Diego financial planner who has been accused of fraud. Crockett's lawyers at Kirby Noonan Lance & Hoge said he invested a "significant" sum but declined to be more specific and would not make him available.

Other investors represented by the law firm claimed Norton orchestrated a Ponzi scheme and defrauded them of more than $20 million. One Norton client was Cora Burke, a widow in her 90s who invested $400,000, essentially all of her funds for living expenses and future medical emergencies, the lawsuit stated.

Crockett is not one of the plaintiffs in that case, although it's possible he could sue on his own. His lawyers did not return several phone calls and e-mails seeking details.

Norton presented himself as a certified financial planner but was prohibited from using the designation because of disciplinary action stemming from his decisions to put clients' cash into "unsuitable investments," according to the lawsuit.

The Broncos happily would help former players research money managers, but typically they do not accept the offer, said Billy Thompson, a Broncos defensive back from 1969 to 1981 who is still on the team's payroll, these days in the front office.

"It's a shame. These guys are out there, and they're noticeable. And people are going to go after them, approach them," said Thompson, the club's director of community outreach. "You have to be very wise in making decisions. You've got to invest with someone, but you want to minimize your risk with information. We're here for them. Unfortunately a lot of times they don't want to divulge anything to do with business."

In falling for Wright's pitch, Crockett had plenty of company and a good reason to have faith. Atwater, a trusted teammate with the Broncos in the 1990s, actually went to work for Wright as a "client liaison," helping to attract new investors.

Football players are not the only ones who wrote checks. California real estate developer Roger O'Neal met Wright through a friend and gave $13 million to International Management Associates.

The Securities and Exchange Commission later nailed Wright with civil fraud charges, saying he raised up to $185 million from hundreds of investors and concealed massive losses.

The smooth-talking, Harvard-educated executive was missing for months until agents nabbed him at a Miami hotel in May 2006.

A month later, the athletes filed a lawsuit against the NFL and the players association claiming they invested $20 million in the hedge funds after the organizations endorsed Wright's company. Wright had liens against him, "red flags" that should have kept the money manager out of the players association's financial adviser program, they said.

The players association countersued, saying the group broke union rules by failing to exhaust other ways of resolving the issue.

Crockett, a Dallas native who lives in his hometown, played his last year, 2002, for the Kansas City Chiefs. His experience handling his football money over the past five years is a cautionary tale for other athletes.

Smith, taking questions after a speech to students last year at George Washington High School, said he, too, had been taken advantage of before, getting "scammed" in a real estate deal.

Thompson said players of his era did not earn enough to attract fraudsters. In recent times, it's another story. "People are going to go where the money is," he said. "And pro athletes are prime targets."

James Paton and David Milstead take turns writing Up and Down 17th Street. patonj@RockyMoun tainNews.com or 303-954-2544