Antonio Cromartie nine children with eight women
According to the New York Post, Cromartie, 26, has fathered nine children in six states with eight different women.
The children range in age from 9 months to 5 years. A player on and off the field, Cromartie was selected 19th overall by the San Diego Chargers in the 2006 NFL draft. He signed a five-year contract that included $7.35 million in guaranteed money, according to published reports. (If he needs help remembering their names, tauntr.com sells this handy Antonio Cromartie Baby Name Cheatsheet Wristband.)This is his first year with the Jets; in March, the team gave him an advance of $500,000 on his salary in order to cover what the Post calls "custody-related costs." Cromartie has certainly contributed to the Jets' success this season; this weekend, his 47-yard kickoff return was instrumental in an upset of the Indianapolis Colts.
When it comes to legal issues, things have not always gone smoothly for the ever-expanding Cromartie clan. Rhonda Patterson, a former Miss Black North Carolina, tells the Post that Cromartie nixed their wedding plans a week before they were scheduled to say "I do," and threw her out of his home in San Diego, despite the fact that she was three months away from giving birth to their child.
The Post reports that Patterson is at work on a novel titled "Love, Intercepted: A Tale of Football, Falling and Failing in Love."
Cromartie is married to model Terricka Cason, with whom he has a 9-month-old daughter. They live in New Jersey, home of the Jets, with his 5-year-old son, Alonzo. Cromartie was granted custody of the boy after Alonzo's mother, Rosemita Pierre, was accused of being a "pot-smoking prostitute" in court, a charge she denies.
The NFL player has cordial communications with some of his co-parents. Erin Wilson, mom to 3-year-old Antonio Cromartie Jr., tells the Post Cromartie is "a good person at heart," and, while they do have their problems, "we make it work," adding that they talk once a week via Skype.
(Cromartie has been less cordial when talking about his opponents on the football field. In an interview with the New York Daily News earlier this week, he referred to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as an "a**hole", adding "F**k him." The Jets will face the Patriots this Sunday in the NFL playoffs.)
Support payments for the moms vary; one receives $3,500 a month, another $2,800, according to the Post. Attorney James P. Joseph, a partner at the law firm Joseph & Teeter, P.C., says this is not unusual.
"Every state has their own rules for child support," Joseph tells ParentDish in a phone interview. The size of the payments is based on a number of factors, the main one being "the child's standard of living" and the applicable law is "probably where the child lives," rather than where the dad resides, Joseph says.
The final arbiter is a judge, but either party can appeal if they are unhappy with the decision. Joseph is not familiar with the specifics of Cromartie's cases, but says "he has tremendous exposure. He's going to be litigating in many venues with numerous lawyers. It's going to be very expensive for him."
The fact that Cromartie earns a large salary also could be a factor in setting a payment amount, but attorney Joseph Cordell doesn't think it should be. Cordell, a partner at the male-focused divorce law firm Cordell and Cordell, tells ParentDish in a phone interview that there often is a double standard in family court.
Cordell says his firm handled one case in which "a very successful lawyer had been ordered to pay approximately $30,000 a month in child support, based upon this theory that he earned a lot of money and the percentage should be applied no matter what his income."
The case went to the Court of Appeals, and the payment was lowered to $5,000 a month, says Cordell, whose new book is "The 10 Stupidest Mistakes Men Make When Facing Divorce: And How to Avoid Them."