I'm an NBA player, but you can't look me up online!

[JCun]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

Please note the hypothetical below and advise me as to whether this is even possible:

I am a former NBA player. I played pro basketball from 1963 until 1975. I wasn't a starting player, but I did gross a nice chunk of change that enabled me to invest my money very wisely. As a result of those investments, I grew a multi-million dollar estate. Because I covet my privacy and that of my family so much, I had my attorney delete from the World Wide Web all records of me being involved in the NBA: all rosters, news articles, draft records, etc.

Is the above hypothetical even possible? Can you have an attorney and/or security service delete all that type of information from the Internet?

I met a guy who said he played for the Browns (NFL, I know!) in the 70s, but there's no record of him ever being on the team. When I approached him and asked why I didn't see his name on any rosters online, he responded that his lawyer, in conjunction with his intense security, removed all information related to his fame/celebrity. In his words, "Google doesn't know <i>everything</i>!"

I want to know if this is possible and whether it's common for "undercover gazillionaires" (my words) to be able to omit that which makes them a celebrity from being found online. Is the answer the same when considering ghostwriters/ghostproducers of music?


There is a bigger picture that I am trying to connect, so I assure you that I'm not a nosy jerk!

Thanks in advance for all info.

JCunWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[ErynSMA]

Originally Posted by JCun

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

Please note the hypothetical below and advise me as to whether this is even possible:

I am a former NBA player. I played pro basketball from 1963 until 1975. I wasn't a starting player, but I did gross a nice chunk of change that enabled me to invest my money very wisely. As a result of those investments, I grew a multi-million dollar estate. Because I covet my privacy and that of my family so much, I had my attorney delete from the World Wide Web all records of me being involved in the NBA: all rosters, news articles, draft records, etc.

Is the above hypothetical even possible? Can you have an attorney and/or security service delete all that type of information from the Internet?

I met a guy who said he played for the Browns (NFL, I know!) in the 70s, but there's no record of him ever being on the team. When I approached him and asked why I didn't see his name on any rosters online, he responded that his lawyer, in conjunction with his intense security, removed all information related to his fame/celebrity. In his words, "Google doesn't know <i>everything</i>!"

I want to know if this is possible and whether it's common for "undercover gazillionaires" (my words) to be able to omit that which makes them a celebrity from being found online. Is the answer the same when considering ghostwriters/ghostproducers of music?


There is a bigger picture that I am trying to connect, so I assure you that I'm not a nosy jerk!

Thanks in advance for all info.

JCunWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

We do not do hypotheticals; however, I will say that what you speak of is essentially impossible to have done, unless you are the Chinese government.

[Yertle8]

No.

Fairly confident someone is lying to you.

No one can hire a lawyer to remove mention from private websites concerning sports figures from history. It could be that someone wasn't famous enough to warrant a lot of Google hits, but the story you got fed is bogus.

[racer72]

Any contract signed with a professional sports team has a clause that the player agrees to relinquish many things about the player, his name, likeness, stats, etc, to the team. This was especially true in the past. The leagues also retain many of those rights too. A kid that grew up down the street from me had a short stint in major league baseball with the New York Yankees, I easily found all the stats and even his picture on the Yankees website. The guy you spoke of is full of crap.

[FlyingRon]

Yoiu know, there are sources other than the web. Kids these days don't know squat how to do research other than google or wikipedia. Certainly you can get printed sports encyclopedias (and probably find them in nearly any library) that detail stats on every professional player in NBA history.

[JCun]

Originally Posted by FlyingRon

Yoiu know, there are sources other than the web. Kids these days don't know squat how to do research other than google or wikipedia. Certainly you can get printed sports encyclopedias (and probably find them in nearly any library) that detail stats on every professional player in NBA history.

That's a good point. And I assume that all the information you all have provided also applies to NBA/NFL draft records from the past, right? (I thought I posted this question last night, but I didn't see it today ... sorry if it's a repeat.)

[Yertle8]

Come on, the guy's a liar.

He supposedly shells out all this money to get all mention of his being in the NFL removed from the internet (the mere concept of that is bafflingly impossible) but then renders his insurmountably costly endeavor worthless by telling you that he was in the NFL.

Think about it.