Many professional athletes unfairly believe they have the right to even more money and benefits, for less work than they are doing now, while most Americans are experiencing exactly the opposite.
In the past year, both the NFL and the NBA have experienced lockouts, which centered on pay cuts the owners wanted to make, and the players have demanded changes to be made to their current arrangements. Both were given some of what they asked for, with the NFL getting fewer padded practices and the NBA getting more money for well-performing rookies.
Players are getting more money than they used to, for example in the NBA, a rookie who meets certain qualifications can get up to 30% of the payroll. The NFL owners wanted to take 18% away from the payroll, due to the current economic situation.
This is a situation many Americans are experiencing, with over 8.5% of people unemployed since March 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Athletes are people just like the rest of Americans and should not be allowed to ask for so much, when the majority of the population is just getting by.
“I think it was stupid that the players couldn’t take a little pay cut, when they already make so much money,” said Jacob LaRue, senior, varsity baseball player. “I think they’re greedy.”
Not only have athletes selfishly demanded more money, but also more money for less work.
Both the NFL and NBA have lightened their work loads this year. The NBA has a much shorter season (66 games this year compared to a normal 82), according to the NBA website, and the NFL lockout resulted in an all new limit in padded practices to 14 for the 17 week season; 11 must be held in the first 11 weeks of the season, but the teams can only have two a week one time during the season. That means in the last six weeks, only three padded practices may be held.
Most of America works without the ability to set the amount of meetings or paperwork, and athletes should not have the right either.
The NBA’s short season pleases players who say it was too long before, but the season will now last from the end of December through the end of April, with the finals happening in late June, according to the NBA website. This makes the season two months shorter than usual due to the lockout between players and owners. NBA players only have a nine month season anyway, while most Americans are working year round, yet the NBA feels the need to have an even shorter season.
Both the NBA and NFL players have called for easier seasons or changes in workload, and this is unfair to working class Americans, who are unable to demand fewer days or that they be given less work. Especially with the economy right now, many workers are being given a heavier workload for the same, or even less pay.
The average length of an NFL career is 3.5 years, while over half of Americans (53%) now believe they will not be able to live comfortably in retirement at any age, according to USA Today. The NFL players have no right to demand a lighter workload, when many players careers are shorter than the average length of a high school career. NFL and NBA players complaints about work conditions are unwarranted and whiny.
NFL players also state that around a fifth of players are living paycheck to paycheck, while around half of workers in America live paycheck to paycheck, according to a Career Builder survey on http://CNN.com. There is no reason why those players who spend most games benched should be given paychecks equaling more work than they do. The average pay of an NFL player for a year is $1.9 million, according to Business Week Magazine online. Comparatively, the average American’s salary is around $40,000.
“That’s ridiculous that people get paid that much just to play a sport,” said LaRue.
To make it to the professional level in sports, a certain level of talent is needed, but there also has to be some love for the game. People do not dedicate that much time and effort to be that good at something they hate. If a player is good enough to play in the professional league, he obviously has dedication, so should want to play as much as possible, regardless of the smaller number on his million dollar paycheck.
Professional athletes are already idolized and are common household names. There is no reason why they should achieve that level of fame and fortune for less work.