I don't have an ounce of pity for a solitary one of them. I do enjoy the game but I like woman's fast pitch softball better and they earn nary of $50K per year for 50 games played.

These so called college educated athletes should have enough brains to hire the right person to manage their finances so they can live the rest of their lives on what they earn.

Even at league minimum, these guys are earning more than most of America.

And furthermore, when it costs north of $100 for a ticket, $20 to park, $10 for a brew and a dog and an outrageous sum for a souvenir, they can really kiss my a$$.

 

a lot of that is the owners fault for paying these rookies all those millions where as they are unproven coming out of college. The pay as it is now is backward imo. It should be rookies making the league minimum and as you progress then you get more money. None of these guys is worth all the millions they are paid, period. There should be a cap but the players union will never let that happen.Look at JaMarcus, for instance, he took the Raiders for 29 ? mil and washed right out. C`mon now quit paying these outrageous salaries and then you can lower ticket prices.
I say go on strike so others can play who really want to

 

Tim brings up a good point: I refuse to buy jerseys and other team paraphernalia because it only pads the pockets of the players more (not counting the company that makes them, that's not the point. I have zero problem with the capitalism aspect of it). I was given a Ladanian Tomlinson Charger's jersey in his last year in San Diego. I wore it twice and now it hangs forever in my closet. So, a $100 jersey is pretty much useless now, but LT got a piece of the cost of that shirt.

I'm pretty much about as non-union as a person can be. However, I understand the usefulness of a union in our society. When a company (the NFL) has all the power and reuses to take care of the health of the players, but allows the owners to continue to make more and more every year, I tend to agree with player's union. I don't like the exorbitant salaries that some players make, especially when they don't perform. The Jamarcus Russell example stands out as the benchmark of ridiculous salaries. However, I'll stress again the need for the NFL owners to be made to take care of the athletes when they retire with a head full of mush and a pretty useless existence after football. A lot of these men are broken and crippled and the league tends to forget about them. Just because they're athletes, is it alright for them to be discarded like yesterday's newspaper?

 

Stu, I also agree with your point. I just looked on line and the NFL league minimum is $325K per year for a first year player. An 11th year player can earn a minimum of $820K. And all of this for 16 reg season games, 2 pre-season games and spring training.

In contrast, the league minimum for an MLB player is $400K. That's spring training, XXX pre-season games and 162 regular season games.

There seems to be a little disparity in total compensation levels. Additionally, as a military person, most ball fields will allow you in for free (nose bleed) of course. You can still catch a Baltimore or a Boston game for under $15.00 and most major league ball parks accommodate less fans.

Football is a gladiator sport, but so is baseball when the Yankees and Red Sox are playing.

 

MLB still has my interest, mostly because I love the game. But if I want to see real Baseball, I will go to a minor league game.
MLB has been tainted too by mega-salaries and steroids, but it seems to still appreciate the fans, and Nothing is more American than baseball.......it still holds that nostalgic place in my heart.

NFL-NBA?...........please implode and blow away.

 

Very well said. Very few players on a 53 man roster make 1 million plus a year.

The average NFL career is less than 3 years, but the damage they are doing to their bodys will last forever.

I love reading and hearing about people complaining about NFL player salaries. They're just jealous that God didn't give them the talent and determination to let them play a game for a living.

 

Can't compare the length of a 162 mlb season and a 16 game NFL season.
It's apples to orange's.

Those lineman are hitting each other over 50+ plays a game. Every now and then you see someone in baseball hit the wall trying to catch a foul ball or home run, but that's every now and then.

The NFL season is much more grueling on the body. Ask a MLB player. He'd tell you.

 

Actually, I don't think it's too bad a comparison. One has to remember, though, that just because the teams are not competing does not mean the players aren't working extremely hard to be redy for the next game. Same is true for MLB players. Not only do they play neaerly every game, but they are expected to stay in good shape- weight training, feilding practing, batting practice, etc. A 16 game season for the NFL lasts nearly 6 months, even longer if they make the playoffs.

I don't think this is entirely true. I believe there are many, many people out there with the God given ability to do remarkable things on a football field. What most of us don't possess, however, is the desire and determination to do the extra work to get noticed: hitting the weighs after prctice, when your body is screaming for youto hit the hottub, studying the playbook (which are the size of big city phonebooks these days) countless hours until your brain and body can perform them flawlessly, to study your opponent's game film to find a weakness in their system. I mean, most of us just want to go home and watch a coupe hours of television and go to bed.

 

true, but with a min of
Rookies and first-year players $285,000

x3 = 855k for 3 years...not too shabby at all

 

As I mentioned in my post sir, Football is a gladiator sport and baseball is not. Baseball players are just as prone to injury as Football players simply due to the length of the season and the explosiveness of the game. The ball is hit, you either react immediately or fail.

Reps sent sir.

And, how many excellent players simply are not in the right place at the right time? My daughter is the most ambitious softball player that I've ever seen with a work ethic that would make any man proud. She's a junior in HS and she fully intends to play college ball.

There are so many very talented athletes out there that to get her individually scouted is just not going to happen. Thank God for technology. I can video tape her and mail out the disks.

It's not necessarily about jealousy.

 

NHL! I usually watch my Skins go 16 and out then I watch my CAPS. And they are actually pretty darn good now (after following them for 20+ years). So if a lockout does occur, I have another way to get my sports fix.

 

Is 855K worth this?

NFL Former Players: HBO Sheds Light on Long-Lasting NFL Injuries

To me its not.

They deserve medical care for life. The owners and the NFL have the resources to do this.

The NFL knows it has a problem on its hands

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/sp.../29injury.html

 

Really? How can you compare a shoulder, elbow, calf, hamstring injuries, and cuts and/or blisters (pitchers) to head, neck and spinal cord injuries?

 

Don't care. Can't see how people can spend hundreds of dollars on tickets and merchandise, or spend an entire Sunday watching football.

 

I don't think the players get any of that money. Not directly anyway. The player and their "trademark" is owned by the team. They do make their own endorsement money if they are marketable enough to get endorsed.