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Athletes and the Money They Make

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Athletes and the Money They Make
Wouldn’t you like to make over $100 million a year by simply playing a game? Well you can if you are a professional athlete playing at the NBA (National Basketball Association), MLB (Major League Baseball) or any other league. We all know that these professional athletes make a lot of money and there has always been a debate on this topic. People often question why professional athletes are earning so much but they do not often consider why these professional athletes truly deserve the money they earn.
Professional athletes work a rigorous routine. Most people think these athletes only work a particular season of course this is not true, training and conditioning is year round. Athletes must spend their time staying in shape and they have to train during offseason. This means that athletes do not have much time for themselves or their families. This conflict with what most people believe about athletes and how they go out to parties and spend all their money. When in a team of professional sports the team would not wait for an athlete to get back in shape. So if a player does not stay in shape he or she is most likely going to lose their job. It is important for athletes to stay in fit so they can keep their job and still receive their paycheck. Athletes have to risk an injury every time they go out on the field to play. Football leads all other sports when it comes to injuries, the most common injury are traumatic injuries such as a concussion. According to a survey on an article by Adam Hadhazy, a freelance writer, out of 2,000 retired football players they surveyed “almost 61 percent in the sample indicated that they had [suffered] a concussion in their career.” There are athletes who have many health problems once their career has ended. Tony Dorsett, a former NFL running back for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos, had suffered multiple concussions thought out his career. In November 2013 he was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease found in many football players and now suffers from memory loss, depression, and troubles with controlling his emotions. According to PBS Frontline, Dorsett, along with other former football players who had been diagnosed with CTE, had filed a law suit against the NFL that settled for $765 million. Athletes struggle through their injuries and are not able to play so they no longer have the money to pay for surgeries, join replacements but for those athletes that do save their millions of dollars from their career as professional athletes this is not a problem.
Of course, many will probably disagree with the statement that the professional athletes deserve their salaries, but not all professional athletes are making millions of dollars. Athletes that play high profile sports which include: football, baseball, and basketball, get paid the most. The amount an athlete earns depends on the league and sport they are playing in. According to statisticbrain.com the average salary for a basketball player in the NBA is $5.2 million. For a baseball player in MLB the average salary is $2.5 million while the average salary for a football player in the NFL (National Football League) is $1.75 million. For non-high profile sports like women’s tennis the average salary is $0.345 million and for men’s tennis the average is $.260 million. These professional tennis players’ often have to pay off expenses with their income that they earn in a tournament. They have to pay for travel cost, coaches, and interns. Michael Kimmelman noted that on the contrast of professional baseball players: “Whose contracts basically guarantee their salaries, pros on the tennis circuit must earn the money back by winning” (518-519). There are professional athletes out there that work as hard like every other athlete but still get paid far less. There are some who would say that it is not fair that the professional athletes earn so much money. since professional athletes are just entertainers.
In conclusion,

Works Cited
Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. "Women Who Hit Very Hard." 2010. "They Say, I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing: With Readings. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2012. 518-19. Print.
Hadhazy, Adam. "Concussions Exact Toll on Football Players Long After They Retire." Scientific American Global RSS. Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc., 2 Sept. 2008. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
"Professional Sports Average Salary / Revenue / Salary Cap." Statistic Brain RSS. Statistic Brain Research Institute, 28 July 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.
Weinbaum, William, and Steve Delsohn. "Dorsett, Others Show Signs Of CTE." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 07 Nov. 2013. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.

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