Fourteen months ago, nearly two dozen former and current NFL players raced in a unique sprint tournament offering $2 million in prize money, dubbed 40 Yards of Gold. The idea was an NCAA-style bracket to crown the fastest man. The event occurred at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla., and broadcast via pay per view.

Just prior to the races, the participants — who were promised a minimum of $25,000 “upon arrival to BB&T Center on June 29, 2019” to be paid after the conclusion of the event — were told not to cash their checks, and in the proceeding weeks, it became readily apparent that the financial promises made by the promoters were just that. The event joined the Alliance of American Football and that summer’s Aurora Games as pro sporting events that did not pay athletes money owed.

Nevertheless, the NFL players did not sue last year, accepting the “check is in the mail” excuse or convinced the 40 Yards of Gold organizers weren’t worth pursuing because they were perceived to have limited assets. However, that changed recently when two of the contestants, former NFL players Jacoby Ford and Jeff Badet, became the first players to litigate. This week the court entered a default judgment against 40 Yards of Gold for not replying to summonses served in the case.

“We have alleged an ongoing scheme of fraud and we seek to recover every dollar on behalf of our clients,” Ford and Badet’s lawyer, Robert C. Johnson of Pike & Lustig, LLP, wrote in an email. “In today’s time, professional athletes are victimized and taken advantage of. We seek to hold every Defendant responsible in this case to the fullest extent Florida law allows.

“Professional athletes are targeted because of their purse strings. Just because professional athletes have money does not mean it is free for the taking.”

The lawsuit is filed against the 40 Yard of Gold organization and one of its founders, Dr. Alijah Bradley. Johnson declined to answer questions over the phone, such as why the decision was made not to sue Bradley’s partner, his former University of Michigan football teammate Charles Stewart, or their investor, Farzin Morena.

Whether 40 Yards of Gold was a big con as Johnson and the suit allege, or simply a case of two men who got in over their head, is unclear. Chase Carlson, a lawyer who represents defrauded athletes, is involved with the first lawsuit brought against 40 Yards of Gold, filed last year by Trevor Penick’s Dynamic Sports, which provided broadcast services.

Dr. Bradley and 40 Yards of Gold did respond to that lawsuit after two default motions filed by Penick. Dr. Bradley denied in a court filing on February 3, 2020, that he owed Penick money, but that is the last document filed on the docket.

“It is an ongoing matter,” Carlson wrote. “I cannot discuss further at this time.”

The event was the brainchild of the two former Michigan football players: Dr. Bradley, a dentist, and Stewart, a mortgage broker. Stewart, who graduated from the school in 2009, and Bradley, who graduated in 2007, were close friends during their Michigan days but went their separate ways after college; Bradley stayed at Michigan for dental school, and Stewart moved to Florida for the mortgage business.

Last June, Stewart told The Athletic he had an epiphany in 2012 of a tournament of 40-yard dashes with NFL players, so he called his friend Bradley. It took them much of the rest of the decade to see their vision come to life.

“Fans love racing, fans love the 40-yard dash,” Stewart said. “I mean, that’s the most important time where people really tune in during the NFL combine. So we just decided, just tie it in and make a spectacle out of it. Make it a tournament-style competition. It’s all about competition. That’s all we care about.”

The event occurred on June 29, 2019. San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Marquise Goodwin won and should have pocketed a $1 million check (his agent did not reply for comment). After the race, he posed with an oversized check for that amount. Before the races, runners were cut checks but told not to cash them until July 5. Then they were told to wait further. Later, the runners were told to give bank account information to Stewart.


“After the event, Mr. Bradley personally handed checks to Mr. Ford and Mr. Badet,” the players contend in the lawsuit filed in Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade. “Each of the checks were for $25,000. Mr. Bradley, with knowledge that there were not enough funds in the account to cover payment, told plaintiffs not to deposit said checks until told to do so.

“In the coming weeks and months, Mr. Bradley engaged in a campaign of consistent, deliberate, and repetitive fraud. Simply, Mr. Bradley knew that his debts could not be paid and attempted to string plaintiffs along as long as possible. In an effort to not meet this day of reckoning, Mr. Bradley sent text messages to plaintiffs on a consistent basis stating that each should expect payment shortly and that he would personally ensure the plaintiffs will be paid. Instead, Mr. Bradley closed the account in which the checks were written from without notice.”

In October 2019, Ford tried to cash the check.

Jacoby Ford’s check from the 40 Yards of Gold event, is an exhibit in his lawsuit against the organization and its co-founder. (Daniel Kaplan / For The Athletic)“On or around October 9, 2019, Mr. Ford attempted to deposit the worthless check which was subsequently dishonored by Wells Fargo,” the lawsuit stated. “In fact, the account on which the funds were drawn upon was closed … This is in spite of the fact that Mr. Ford was fraudulently told on a repetitive basis to wait and that funds would be transferred.”

Bradley did not reply to a request for comment through a 40 Yards of Gold email. The summonses served on him by Badet and Ford were at a mailbox service location in Miami.

Badet, a wide receiver who played for the Minnesota Vikings in 2018 and during the 2019 preseason, told Viking Update prior to the races of his decision to run despite recovering from a hamstring injury: “I feel fine, so it’s just a matter if I can go out there and if I feel comfortable, I might make it worse … I feel fine now. It’s not like I’m hurting that bad. I’ll just see how I’ll feel (before the tournament).”

Badet most recently played for the Dallas Renegades of the XFL earlier this year. Ford played in the NFL from 2010 through 2014, and then later in the CFL.

The Washington Post has published fresh allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct at Washington’s NFL team, this time directly involving the franchise’s owner, Dan Snyder.

One former team employee said that a video was made of Washington cheerleaders accidentally exposing their breasts during a film shoot in 2008.

“Larry [Michael, the team’s former head of media] said something to the effect of, ‘We have a special project that we need to get done for the owner today: He needs us to get the good bits of the behind-the-scenes video from the cheerleader shoot onto a DVD for him,’” Brad Baker, a former Washington team employee told the Post.

Baker said he helped edit the video, which was burned on to a DVD labelled “For Executive Meeting”. The Post said it has a copy of the film. Michael, who resigned from the team last month, denies the allegations while Snyder is yet to comment.

“I feel betrayed and violated,” said Heather Tran, one of the cheerleaders who took part in the 2008 shoot.Another former Washington cheerleader, Tiffany Bacon Scourby, told the Post that Snyder encouraged her to sleep with Tony Roberts, a childhood friend of Snyder.



Scourby alleged Snyder told her at an event in 2004: “We have a hotel room. Why don’t you and Tony go upstairs and get to know each other better?”

Other female employees told the Post they were banned from mixing with players in case they were a “distraction”, and that harassment was widespread at the franchise. “It was like fresh meat to a pack of wolves every time a new pack of interns would come in,” one woman said.

Last month, Snyder hired a law firm to look into workplace culture at the team after the Post published a story detailing widespread sexual harassment. At the time, he said harassment “has no place in our franchise or society.” Several team executives and employees left the franchise following the July allegations.

Snyder is one of the most maligned team owners in the NFL. Once one of the most successful teams in the league, Washington have stagnated under his ownership, and have recorded just two winning seasons since 2008. In 2019, they finished with the second-worst record in the league.

Off the field, Snyder’s reign has been even worse. On top of overseeing a toxic work culture, he long refused to change the team’s nickname which was widely viewed as racist. He finally did so this summer, but only after significant pressure from sponsors.

Veteran Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins offered a withering assessment of Snyder’s legacy on Wednesday. “This is what the NFL gets for not scraping Daniel Snyder off its shoe before now,” she wrote. “They’re partners with a man who sank a flagship organization, leaving behind a smutty storefront.”