The attorney for a Dallas Cowboys player says he is missing money that they believe his family has spent.
Offensive tackle Tyron Smith, a second-year pro, is paid millions as first-round draft choice to watch Tony Romo's back. But his attorney said it seems that no one is watching Smith's.
John Schorsch, the 21-year-old's attorney, said his client's family has been blindsiding him financially. He said his client became aware in recent months that he was missing significant sums of money.
"I think we're talking several hundreds of thousands, if not in excess of a million dollars," Schorsch said.
Schorsch said a forensic audit of Smith's finances is under way to determine how much money is missing.
His parents set Smith up with financial advisers when he was drafted, Schorsch said.
"He would prefer to have no friction," he said. "He would prefer to have no conflict."
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Schorsch said he believes serious damage has been done to the family's relationship.
"I think he's been carrying this for some time," he said. "The issue came to light several months ago."
On Tuesday, Smith called Dallas police to his home to report that family members had run a blitz on him -- harassing and tormenting him in the pursuit of financial gain.
Dallas Cowboy retirees, veterans and rookies such as Morris Claiborne say no NFL player is immune to the demands for cash once drafted.
"Man, it's just a lot of different things going," he said. "You got new family members, people calling for money -- even your family members."
Claiborne, this year's top Cowboys draft pick, said he actually has a person in his confidence whose job it is to tell people "no" when requests for cash come in.
"It hurts, but money changes people. ... You just got to keep it real with them," he said. "You're not going to have that money forever, so you got to do the right things with it."
Schorsch said all Smith wants is to conservatively manage his money so that if his career ends tomorrow because of injury, he would be able to take care of himself.
Schorsch also said that his client willingly gave money to his family but the support was returned with a sense of entitlement, as if Smith is his family's lottery ticket.
"There is no debt that's owed to a parent," he said. "It should be a joy and a gift to support your child and, conversely, for a child to help its parent, but there's no debt; there's no entitlement."
Smith's family denied to the Dallas Morning News that it used his finances to bankroll its lifestyle. In the newspaper story, they blamed the rift on his girlfriend.
