Professional athletes deserve high salaries

Matthew Pierce (Thursday, September 4)

One thing that really bothers me is when people complain about how much professional athletes are paid. They say that just being in the spotlight should be enough, or that athletes are just money hungry show-offs.

People also complain that the players only work for ten or so years when the average American does not retire until they’re sixty-seven. The fact is that many professional athletes give a lot of the money they earn to charity. This is only one of many reasons why I believe they deserve every penny they earn.

These athletes are constantly working. They not only play games, but they also train in the off season and during the season. They are constantly giving up time with family to travel. It seems like the job never ends from the games to the advertisements. That is why you have athletes who retire after ten years.

Another factor to consider is the risk of injury. Kevin Everett of the Buffalo Bills sustained a spinal injury in a game last year. He dropped his head while tackling, and ended up lying on the ground unable to move.

Texans’ wide receiver Harry Williams sustained a spinal injury in a game this year when he collided with a teammate during a kickoff return. These athletes put their bodies and minds on the line every time they step on the field, platform, track, etc.

Many athletes put a lot of money into charities. Lance Armstrong gives to charity by giving a percentage he makes off of his Live Strong merchandise to help battle cancer.

A lot of football players put money toward building playgrounds for children. These players use their money to help the ones who are less fortunate than them, and yet they are still constantly being criticized.

Athletes are people too, but what they do is so time consuming and physically and mentally draining. Sometimes it even comes down to deciding between a paycheck or your family and that has to be the most painful and difficult decision an athlete can make.

23 Responses to "Professional athletes deserve high salaries"


Seriously
September 4, 2008 10:20 am
Are you joking? The majority of these pricks are overpaid and undeserving. Those guys don't play because they love the game, they play because they want the money. I will give you that a select few do some good, however, most end up living the high life without helping the lower classes. The teams of old were good as you had talent playing on teams without the money. In today's world, you have the Manchester Uniteds, Real Madrids, New York Yankees, Boston Redsox, New England Patriots to name a few who buy their teams.
Reader
September 4, 2008 3:07 pm
Athletes might be at least somewhat overpaid, but as long as they are paid through the private sector and not tax dollars, there is no reason (other than jealousy) to be upset or angry.
The Dude With All The Answers
September 30, 2008 5:07 pm
You have to be joking. I am writing an essay on this kind of thing and there is no doubt in my mind, or for that matter anyone else in their right mind, that could possibly believe that professional athletes are not overpaid. Tiger Woods had a net income of approximately $128,000,000 in 1 year. This is insane. If Tiger was to spend all of this money in a year he would have to spend $351,000 a day. So Tiger, and other athletes that make shitloads of money can spend more in a day than most people make in a year. If you would like me to explain more so you can understand a little better and change your opinion, I would be glad to acknowledge.
The Dude With All The Answers
September 30, 2008 5:51 pm
You have to be joking. I am writing an essay on this kind of thing and there is no doubt in my mind, or for that matter anyone else in their right mind, that could possibly believe that professional athletes are not overpaid. Tiger Woods had a net income of approximately $128,000,000 in 1 year. This is insane. If Tiger was to spend all of this money in a year he would have to spend $351,000 a day. So Tiger, and other athletes that make shitloads of money can spend more in a day than most people make in a year. If you would like me to explain more so you can understand a little better and change your opinion, I would be glad to acknowledge.
Really
October 1, 2008 10:59 pm
Ok, do these people entertain you?
Yes?
Do Movie Stars Entertain you?
Yes?
They all make extremely large amounts of money, so stop whining
they have great talent and they deserve what they get.
u got it right
October 13, 2008 7:45 am
yea, ur right man. athletes actually do deserve what they r paid because of the way economic systems work. if you had a rare gift too, like the raw talent these guys have, then you could get the same amount of money. its not about sports, its about having something other people don't.
john
October 14, 2008 11:36 am
uck u all viva la mexico
nick
October 14, 2008 11:37 am
i love baseball.hehe.
joes momma
October 17, 2008 3:21 pm
ur right their better than most people so they deserve their freakng money
Kelsey
October 23, 2008 6:33 pm
Sure they entertain us just like movie stars, but that doesn't mean giving them a lot of money is right.

and yes sure, they're better at the sports than some people, but thay doesn't mean they should get more money than everyone else!! A hockey player couldn't do what the President does, which would make the President better. Then shouldn't the President be paid more??? which in fact, he isn't

Just because some one is famous doesn't mean they should get more money. A doctor isn't famous, but deserves a lot of money because they save people's lives everyday. Athletes are just playing a game.

We should be using the money to help people who are starving and have no food. over 800 million people go hungry at night, yet we waste our money going to watch a stupid game instead of helping them. The starving people need the money A LOT more than athletes ever will, yet we pay the athletes instead.
Scott
October 24, 2008 11:47 am
Is it crazy money? Yes! don't tell me for a second that if someone would give you an obscene amount of money to do something you are good at you would not take the money?!? I say take what they give you bc you never know when your carear will be over i.e.Kevin Everett.
Games, games
November 6, 2008 2:50 pm
If fans are willing to pay the ridiculous prices to see adults play games, then the participants are certainly entitled to it. Plenty of folks bought pet rocks in the 70s. It is all due to successful marketing. My hat's off to the creative individuals who can sell games, rocks, or any other item that requires convincing the customer that they can't live without it. On the other hand, as an individual who has dedicated his life to the education of young people, I often feel the compensation is not as much as it should be. Whether or not a team wins a game will not affect very many lives, but whether a child gets an education affects us all.
frank the tank
November 10, 2008 10:59 am
pro athletes deserve every bit of that money they get. their whole life while everyone else was playing around with friends or sittin on their butt in the air condition those pro athelets were out side almost everyday working on getting better making all kinds of sacrifices like cutting in on social time and sometimes even losing friends over it. if you want to be a pofessional athlete you have to work at it everyday and the whole time there doing it they dont get paid for it even though they are working hard its sweat blood and tears all day every day so when they finally make it all that money is exactly what they deserve for all the work and sacrifices they did. and i guarrentee you all these people on here saying bad stuff about it are lazy bums that sit on ur stupid computers all day and do nothing. yall are real cool =/ GET A LIFE!!
sowhat!
November 13, 2008 10:43 pm
if you knew that everyday when you went to work, you put yourself at extreme risk of injury and physical stress, would you be satisfied with a 'normal' salary??

i didn't think so.


get over it. these people give up a hell of a lot to entertain all of you. you could at least pray that they stay safe because no matter what you think, no amount of money can make someone feel better when they're parylized and have to live their lives without being able to play with their own children.

get real people.
The next Big thing
November 14, 2008 10:34 am
Yall r retarted, these guys work harder then any one else, and they r just lucky enough to have the talent to going from level to level and they get paid what they deserve
52-7
November 15, 2008 10:09 am
"yall r retarted"
Spoken like a ESU football groupie. Get your head out of the sheets and learn how to spell
1 student
November 15, 2008 10:20 am
I don't think people are going to agree on this one.
sage
November 17, 2008 12:55 pm
they get paid too much money. they are good at what they do and deserve a good amount but you have to know when enough is enough.
x hornet
November 18, 2008 11:28 am
Why say enough is enough when they keep throwing the $ at them? It is crazy money; it will keep being that way until the owners say no! If that happens then you will have a strike and no more pro sports! NO WIN SITUATION! "But I would take the money in a heartbeat!!!"
project pat
November 19, 2008 3:59 pm
you say that professional athletes would not be able to do the things that teachers or doctors do but while they might not be capable of these things, teachers and doctors can't do what pro athletes do either. lucky for them their talents are more rare and provide a larger commercial demand
taadaa
November 20, 2008 9:41 am
From what you say Mr. Pierce, athletes deserve that money because they give to charity, put their lives, health, and body at risk, and have to travel and be away from their family. Bulls***. If that was true, my boyfriend in the military should be a freaking billionaire. He works EVERY DAY to defend our freedoms and rights even if it means getting shot in in a desert a million miles from home, while we fill stadiums and throw money at big kids playing a game. He hasn't been home for a year, and when he comes home, it won't be to a mansion with all of the extravagent amendities; it'll be to a barracks room with a bed, a fridge, a desk, and a crappy laptop covered in sand from the hell he just came back from. When he goes somewhere in his uniform, he won't be cheered at and asked for his autograph, he'll be sneered at because he had to follow orders from his "team captain".

No, athletes aren't heroes that deserve anything, they're idols made rich by our twisted priorities.
dominique bonman
November 21, 2008 9:31 am
NO!! they do not make to much money it inpossible to make to much money!!!
my wee wee in you grannys dry vee vee
December 1, 2008 7:50 pm
um i would have intimate realations with any foot ball player and im a dude