The litany of professional athletes, NFL players among them, who have blowntheir earnings has prompted much reflection on what causesmillionaires to end up back where they started.

Read: Wealthy worry about running out of retirementmoney

The reasons often cited are a desire to invest in startups (mostfail), a line of family and friends needing financial help andgeneral overspending on luxury items without planning for thefuture.

While stories of fortunes lost generate the buzz, many NFL starswalk away from the game set for life and even increase theirwealth.

Visa has even joined with the NFL and current players to helpspread the financial literacy message in a program called Financial Football.

Read: Millions of wealthy households living hand tomouth

The website celebritynetworth.com catalogs the finances of therich and famous using public information. While many on the list ofNFL players are current players raking in mega-salaries, we decidedto concentrate on those who played when salaries were not in thestratosphere.

Check out 8 ex-NFL stars worth a fortune:

8. (tie) Deion Sanders

Net Worth: $40 million

“Neon Deion” was most famous for his exploits on the footballfield, but he carved out a baseball career at the same time forseveral Major League teams.

In the NFL alone, he took home about $47 million.

He also had endorsements for Pizza Hut, Nike and others as wellas his baseball salary. A career as a TV football analyst hasfollowed, and despite the electric nickname, Sanders has apparentlystayed grounded on the financial front.

8. (tie) Fran Tarkenton

Net Worth: $40 million

Tarkenton was known for scrambling to avoid the fearsome passrushers of the 1960s and '70s.

His quick feet helped lead the Minnesota Vikings to the SuperBowl, although he never quite grabbed the brass ring. Thescrambling continued after he hung up his jersey for good and hewas swept up in a securities fraud investigation.

The Associated Press reported that Tarkenton agreed to pay$100,000 to settle the charges against his software company.

That fine barely put a dent in Tarkenton's millions, made inlarge part from various educational software businesses.

6. Michael Strahan

Net Worth: $45 million

Strahan's strength allowed him to set the NFL record for sackingthe quarterback in a single season.

His $60 million in NFL pay (minus some lost in a high-profiledivorce) allowed him to put away a nest egg.

And don't forget his second career as co-host of “Live! WithKelly and Michael” and as a regular on “Fox NFL Sunday.” His TVsalary is pegged at $10 million a year, mostly from “Live!”

5. Gale Sayers

Net Worth: $50 million

The shifty Chicago Bears running back had a meteoric career cutshort by knee injuries.

Despite playing just seven seasons, Sayers is considered amongthe greatest of all time.

Adding to his luster in the popular imagination is hisfriendship with teammate Brian Piccolo whose battle with cancer waschronicled in Sayers' book “I am Third” and the TV movie “Brian'sSong.”

Through his Sayers Finance Corp., the former gridiron star hasridden the ups and downs of the financial markets to make hisfortune.

4. Jim Brown

Net Worth: $50 million

Jim Brown is considered by most to be the greatest running backof all time.

Perhaps the greatest athlete, as he is is widely regarded as thebest collegiate lacrosse player, too.

He walked away from the Cleveland Browns at the peak of hiscareer and headed to Hollywood (think “Dirty Dozen” and “Any GivenSunday”), as well becoming a social activist, founding Amer-I-Can, an organization thathelps equip young people with the skills needed to contribute tosociety.

3. Joe Montana

Net Worth: $80 million

Montana was a comeback kid from his quarterback career at NotreDame to his days leading the dominant San Francisco 49ers teams ofthe 1980s.

His pay was a fraction of what players make today (the SanFrancisco Chronicle wrote in 1990 of Montana's salary of about $3million finally matching his play).

Still, shrewd investing in tech companies, as reported byFortune and others, and huge fees for public appearances havelanded him high on our list.

2. Brett Favre

Net Worth: $100 million

Favre, famed for his gun-slinging ways on the field, apparentlyavoided the pitfalls many professional athletes fall into wheninvesting their money.

The quarterback, who raked in $139 million in salary during hiscareer with four teams, famously had a falling out with his mainteam, the Green Bay Packers.

That's all patched up now as Favre lives a quiet retirement witha few commercial pitches and public appearances sprinkled in.

1. Roger Staubach

Net Worth: $600 million

Staubach's story read like something Hollywood would dreamup.

First, there was his Heisman Trophy winning collegiate career atthe Naval Academy.

Then, after serving a hitch that included a tour in Vietnam, heled the Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl victories. His ability toguide the Cowboys to comeback wins is legendary.

His post-football life is just as impressive. Staubach started areal estate business that provides investment and professionalservices that was sold to Jones Lang LaSalle in 2008.

The ex-signal caller is the firm's executive chairman.