Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Tackles College Star’s Championship

Out-of-control debt recently dealt an emotional blow to a Nebraska Cornhusker football legend and his memorabilia collection.

Former ‘Husker lineman Aaron Taylor was forced to liquidate seven championship rings and his Outland Trophy to settle his debt after filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Taylor was a star offensive guard for the University of Nebraska football team from 1994 through 1998. In his time as a Cornhusker, he helped the team to three national championships. In 1997 he won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s best interior lineman. The trophy itself depicts a lineman charging forward to make a block.

Taylor filed for bankruptcy as a result, for the most part, of the failure of his Cornhuskers-themed restaurant, the Scarlet and Cream Letter Club, at which he was an officer. He started the restaurant in Omaha with several other former Nebraska football players, ESPN reported.

But the business struggled, and Taylor filed for bankruptcy, reporting more than $100,000 in debt, most of which came in the form of taxes owed on the failed restaurant for which he was legally responsible. In the filing he only listed $5,300 in assets, leaving off his football memorabilia.

Initially, Taylor tried to block the liquidation sale of his college football memorabilia. According to the conditions of his Chapter 7 bankruptcy, however, the law did not allow him to do so, and the items were put up for auction.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is designed to clear your unsecured debt quickly, but creditors may be allowed access to valuable non-exempt property. Every state outlines extensive exemptions which can be used to protect valuable when you file.

Unfortunately, Taylor’s case did not qualify for a bankruptcy filing that would have allowed him to maintain possession of some assets while he repaid the debt. And the court’s viewed Taylor’s rings and trophies were too valuable for the exemptions, which typically include things like homes, cars, clothes, work tools and household goods.

According to the New York Times, it took only about 30 minutes for Taylor’s college football memorabilia to change hands via online auctions. The auction items included the Outland Trophy, which sold for $6,800, and the championship rings, which were encrusted with diamonds, which sold for between $2,000 and $5,900. In total, the auction items sold for $28,500.

A group of Nebraska Cornhusker football fans were reportedly upset about the situation, and attempted to raise funds in order to help Taylor bid on the memorabilia himself. Those attempts seemed to have been futile, however, as the bankruptcy trustee in the case told the Associated Press that Taylor did not appear to be the buyer for any of the auction items.

While he was drafted by the NFL after college, Taylor began his business career following a short-lived attempt to play football professionally. As a college player, he was voted onto several All-Century teams, honoring him as one of the best college football players of all time. Even that sterling reputation, however, was not able to save the trophies and rings that marked that time from the saddening realities of financial hardship.