According to interviews conducted by mediabistro.com with five people who worked on the magazine at various times since 2004, McNeil's company, Maven Media Group, which publishes OverTime, owes money to vendors, freelancers, and former staff. One source with intimate knowledge of its finances -- who is owed more than $8,000 by Maven Media to date -- said the company owes "considerably more than $100,000" to former magazine staff, freelancers and vendors. "[$100,000] wouldn't even cover the loans [McNeil's] taken out," she said.

When reached for comment, McNeil denied the claim, saying "by the end of 2007, everyone who had [worked for OT] had been compensated." He went on to say, "There's nothing to hide ... We've dealt with hundreds of writers, and I bet that more writers have had good experiences than have had bad [experiences]."

In response to McNeil's denial, the source said, "That is beyond a bold-faced lie. I would like to see the receipts and the cancelled checks."

On Wednesday January 16, a day after Maven Media posted two job ads on mediabistro.com -- one for "10 Ad Sales Rep Positions" and one seeking "Excellent Freelance Writers" -- we were contacted by a former OverTime freelancer. This source said McNeil owed them money for freelance work. This source, upon seeing the job ads, said she contacted mediabistro.com out of concern that McNeil was hiring. The source requested anonymity due to threats in an email sent by McNeil to the source and other OverTime freelancers and staffers which, in addition to asserting, "Whatever is owed to you will be paid to you, albeit later than anticipated or requested," said, "if anyone has or chose to share any internal information to anyone outside of this email or defame this company's' name, rest assured I will take legal action without hesitation."

The source quit working for McNeil in the fall of 2007 after being employed by him for a period of years. The source's decision to quit stemmed in part from the fact that during a five-month period in late 2007, the source was paid in full for one month of work. Though the source has since received 20 percent of the money McNeil owed for that work, the 11-year NFL vet still owes the source more than $8,000 to date.

Stephen Hanks, freelance editorial director of OverTime from January to September 2007, reports his own payment difficulties with McNeil. Hanks first suspected the company might be in financial trouble in March 2007, when a $4,000 paycheck he received from the company bounced, but at that time he "gave McNeil the benefit of the doubt." Ten days later, Hanks received a replacement check which cleared, but by June, at least three writers had complained to Hanks that their checks hadn't cleared. In July, a $4,000 check to Hanks bounced, although he was paid in full by mid-August. According to Hanks, by the time he quit in September, seven writers had not been paid for work on the July/August issue.

Despite mounting complaints surrounding unpaid bills, McNeil -- outwardly at least, according to Hanks -- continued to project an air of calm. "From the spring through early fall, [McNeil] was constantly telling people that financing was on the horizon," Hanks said via email. McNeil sent the following email to staff members and freelancers on September 23, 2007, promising payment:

"When we receive our funding we are going to print OT and send out the billings. We will then pay everyone as quickly as we can. As the billings come in we will print another issue and again pay everyone.' For some of you it's really not about information, but about money so let's be honest. Whatever is owed to you will be paid to you, albeit later than anticipated or requested." … If anyone is in dire need of their funds I will gladly allow them to go collect unemployment. We will continue to work to resolve this very difficult situation with any and everyone who wants to stay in place and help us succeed."

"I've been holding off for as long as possible to write you this note but given the current situation with OT magazine and how long the 'hiatus' has dragged out, I felt it wouldn't be fair to any of you to wait any longer ... Since none of you has a contract with OT magazine and since the magazine, for all intent and purposes, has suspended operations indefinitely (it's possible a miracle could happen within weeks and that they secure financing, but I doubt that will happen), you retain the rights to your articles and you should be free to sell them to other publications."

According to McNeil, OverTime will continue to publish on a bimonthly schedule. Jeff Louderbeck, who's been an OT contributor "since its inception" in 2004, told mediabistro.com via email, "I have always been paid in a timely fashion." Louderbeck was appointed editor in December 2007. "I would not have taken the position if I was not comfortable with the future of the magazine." Louderbeck told us in a phone conversation that the January/February issue of OverTime will "go to the printer in another week," and he's already working on the March/April issue.

One former freelancer filed a lawsuit in Fulton County, Georgia against McNeil for back pay in the fall of '07, but he said that the sheriff's office returned the subpoena because it could not locate McNeil to serve him, despite repeated attempts.

Another former employee took legal action against McNeil. According to court documents dated June 19, 2007, a judgment of $10,069 was rendered in favor of Mark Wright, OverTime's executive editor from March '05 to December '06, against "OverTime Magazine and Ryan McNeil" for back pay owed to Wright for work on the January/February and March/April 2007 issues. According to the documents, Wright won the case because "the defendant [failed] to appear or file an answer within time." When reached by phone, Wright said, "For the first three issues, there were no problems in regards to payment of myself or freelancers, but then it became apparent that the magazine and Ryan McNeil were having financial difficulties." Wright says he has yet to be paid.

In response to an email sent to McNeil listing the facts of this story and requesting comment, he wrote:

"OT has always met its obligations in the past and we fully intend to do so in the future. We are currently involved in pending litigation and arbitration to enforce our rights and to defend ourselves against claims we consider without merit and will vigorously defend ourselves against any such allegations of wrongdoing. Though we had to overcome some financial hurdles related to the pending litigation and arbitration, we have consistently streamlined our partnerships, processes and procedures to ensure future success."