From the Atlanta Journal and Constitution:
Former pro football player Travis Henry, who fathered nine children by nine women, returned to DeKalb County Superior Court on Wednesday to try to reduce child support payments for one son.
Henry wants to modify an order to pay $3,000 a month to the boy’s mother, Jameshia Beacham. His lawyer said the amount should be reduced now that Henry is unemployed —- and likely out of the National Football League for good.
Atlanta attorney Randall M. Kessler said Henry was released by the Denver Broncos because of his age —- he’s 30 —- and because of an injury.
“He’s got child support obligations across the country, and he’s got zero income,” Kessler told Judge Clarence Seeliger.
Henry also has other expenses. He was arrested last month in an alleged cocaine deal, and was released after posting a $400,000 bond.
Seeliger set the child support payments last year, when Henry was working as a running back. The judge also ordered Henry to establish a $250,000 trust fund by last spring.
The judge’s order noted that Henry had squandered money, spending $100,000 for a car and $146,000 for jewelry, and said the fund was required as backup should Henry fail to make payments.
Henry appealed that order, and the Georgia Court of Appeals recently agreed to hear the case.
Robert Wellon, lawyer for the mother, argued against reducing the monthly payments.
He asked for documentation about how much Henry has spent from a $3 million payment the player received from the Broncos this year.
He also asked the judge for time to determine whether Henry’s dismissal from the Broncos was involuntary or was precipitated by Henry’s own actions.
Wellon said that if Henry was dismissed due to his own actions, the child support payments should not be reduced. “Voluntariness is never a ground for modification,” he said.
In June, when the Broncos dumped Henry, coach Mike Shanahan was quoted by the Rocky Mountain News as saying that Henry was “too inconsistent as a person.”
“We have certain expectations about the way we do things,” Shanahan said at the time. “He didn’t meet those.”Seeliger agreed to Wellon’s request to seek more information. The next hearing has not been scheduled.
