Willis should have had the company's books vetted by an independent accounting firm (any of the big 4). I would guess he was blinded by the opportunity of being a VP so he skipped this step, but then again this is speculation.

I doubt he made any conscious decision to take a risky step because of greed. I think the big issue is that this guy's life consisted mostly of football until last year, so he wouldn't even have the knowledge or experience necessary for something like this to even occur to him. He strikes up a friendship (or so he thinks) with a guy that from all appearances was a big deal in the tech world, so he figures this guy must know what he's talking about.

Going to a big 4 accounting firm to vet the company's books hardly sounds like something that would come up in a criminal justice degree from Ole Miss (their course catalog for CJ doesn't list a single course about financial or white collar crimes), and it's certainly nothing you'd ever hear about playing linebacker in the NFL.

I'm sure that's part of what made him such a good mark for this guy. He's a millionaire with literally no experience in business or investing and no financial savvy. Niazi probably saw a cartoonish bag of money (complete with dollar sign) when he looked at him.

Maybe some of those ideas are part of what the NFL is teaching in the financial management classes for rookies now. If not, maybe they should start.