If any of you watched ESPN Film’s “Broke,” you know that over half of all professional football players go bankrupt three years after retiring from the NFL. And, keep in mind, most of these retirements occur while these players are still in their twenties.

Again, if you watched this documentary, you probably immediately wondered how many of these football players were former Alabama students. I wondered this as well, but in the end, the names do not matter. What matters is that The University of Alabama takes a stand to help its current and prospective students – athlete or not – avoid financial ruin in the near future.

No one wants to have insurmountable debt when they leave college, but that’s the fate many are faced with because of the necessity for student loans. Still, there is no reason to make the situation worse by adding more debt after you have graduated. Living within your means, or better yet, living under your means, is the best remedy to cure chronic debt.

But unless you are encouraged and taught how to do this, you will more than likely get into financial trouble. So, here are some suggestions that may help.

First, The University of Alabama should require that every student take some form of basic accounting or money management courses while enrolled. I know some people scoff at the word “require,” but let’s not act like this is calculus that you will never use again in your life – everyone needs and will use financial literacy skills!

Furthermore, this kind of course requirement should be implemented at the high school level, as well. If good habits are taught early, they are more likely to be absorbed for the long haul.

Second, since the Crimson Tide will inevitably produce numerous NFL draft picks every single year, all current football players need to learn how to keep from losing millions of dollars overnight. No administrator or professor should be proud to say they were the reason a former player blew all of his millions on happy hour at Applebee’s.

Lastly, these actions need to be implemented quickly. Every second that is wasted giving lip service, another UA graduate gets a mortgage they can’t afford, a car they can’t pay for, and so on and so forth. Let’s stop the apathy right now!

For the record, I’m all for Auburn alumni going completely and totally bankrupt – especially if his or her name begins with Cam and ends in Newton!

Benjamin Baxter is a 2010 Industrial Engineering alumnus from the College of Engineering.