Football and Finances: NFL’s Ndamukong Suh teaches kids money smarts

NEW YORK, Jan 18 (Reuters) – If your kid happens to be in public school in Portland, Dallas, Los Angeles or Oakland and is taking a personal finance workshop in the coming months, ask them if they caught sight of one of the founders of the program.

If he is 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters), more than 300 pounds and looks like a National Football League defensive tackle – that is because he is one.

That would be Ndamukong Suh, 36, an American football star who strikes fear into the hearts of opposing teams. As much as Suh enjoys sacking quarterbacks and tackling running backs – his Philadelphia Eagles are on a playoff push hoping to reach the Super Bowl – there is something else he enjoys just as much: Teaching children about financial literacy.

“They need to understand how to take care of their finances,” said Suh, whose Suh Family Foundation, with wife Katya, is partnering with the firm Intuit Inc (INTU.O) to bring personal finance curriculum to schools around the United States. “Especially in marginalized communities, this can be a tough conversation to have, so I want to bring some light to it.”

Some NFL players and other well-paid professional athletes run into money troubles after their playing careers end. Indeed, when young players suddenly come into millions of dollars, without a lot of financial education, amid high-spending lifestyles, with agents and managers and entourages all taking a cut – the money can go away much more quickly than one would think.

In contrast, Suh, 36,…