As you may have noticed I have had a poll up for a while asking whether you think pro athletes are over-paid, and the results don’t surprise me. So first off I’ll give you my opinion: I think that it is controvercial to say that they are over-paid, however they do deserve the money they make and there are reasons their pay checks are so high. And it is my job to explain to all y’all why I believe this, so please stay with me.
Pro athletes are paid a TON, they make bank. My first point will show you why they deserve to be paid a lot of money, even though they may be overpaid, I believe they should make a lot. What people don’t realize is that athletes risk their well being and potentially their lives on a daily basis playing professional sports. Many of you may not believe this but it’s probably because you may not watch sports as often as I do.
Let’s start with football as an example, it’s dangerous as heck!!! Athletes who participate in football are everyday in harms way. Injuries are anything but uncommon, broken legs or arms are literally an every month thing. Just this year I watched a football game live on television and saw a man get PARALYZED from the neck down. Now think about it, what other regular jobs do you go to that this is something that happens on a relatively regular basis? Next let’s take baseball for example, pitchers. Mounds in the majors are 60’6″ from the plate, this may sound short yet it’s anything but. When a pitcher pitches the ball to a batter, the reaction time to the plate is well under a second. If a batter hits the ball directly at the pitcher, who at this point can be defenseless in many cases, the reaction time is even less. From different research I found that once the ball is coming straight for your head at a fast enough speed and that close, your body actually freezes, it can’t keep track of the ball. I’ve seen pitchers lose half their faces this way, sitting at a desk is this a major possibility?
Next I’d like to talk about retirement. Many athletes, by the time they are ready for retirement and out of their prime, have bodies that are so beat up that they actually begin to breakdown quicker than the average person. After years and years of working out aimlessly and taking beatings, obviously one’s body will suffer the consequences. Already, at age 16, both of my ankles don’t have barely any movement compared to what they used to, I’ve lost 2 teeth, I had an entire side of my face plastically reconstructed, my left arm is slightly deformed, my right shoulder hurts every day from baseball, and my wrists are so worn down that they pop when I move them (Bri can vouch for that if she recalls it). Now I’m not trying to sound whiny, but I’m only 16 and I’ve already had all this happen to me in sports. By age 40 I can’t imagine what it’d be like. So listen to this, when athletes get older they suffer for what they’ve done, which affect the rest of their lives in a negative way that other people don’t have to deal with on the same level.
Third I’d like to address lifestyle. I won’t spend long on this because you probably already know, but who wants to be followed everywhere they go? Another thing people don’t think about as frequently is family, pro athletes have to live away from home for a full 6 months atleast. Sure they get to spend time with their family a little, but it is difficult to maintain a family when you’re out of town all the time. Also, finding the right person is difficult because of “gold diggers,” I’m sure you’ve heard of relationship problems for athletes.
Now that I’ve made my first few arguments I need to address the main argument I’ve got against athletes getting paid so much. Why shouldn’t firemen, police officers and teachers, who can go through some serious problems, not be paid as much? Now my dad is a teacher so I understand and I agree, they should get paid more. But the reason they don’t is quite simple, their professions don’t bring in enough money to get them paid more, whereas athletes have a profession where money is brought in at an astronomical scale. Athletes are in the entertainment industry, which especially in America is insanely popular and still growing. Athletes EARN that money because the money in their profession is there. So the money they are paid has no where to go but to them, that’s the main reason they get paid that much.
Now I’m all for you protesting and saying that a certain amount of money that athletes get donated to other people or something, but it’s honestly doubtful.
So just let me say this, athletes may well be overpaid, but they make money because they are in a profession where money is brought in like mad, that’s just the way it is. They risk their lives daily and have very little job security.
I’d love to hear a discussion because I haven’t heard many arguments on this subject and I know there are some out there, so comment!!!
This is Scarface signing off.