NOTE: Special thanks to CareerCruising.comfor providing the mentioned salary averages.
Everyone gets paid for working. People with more important jobs tend to make more money. Or do they? It depends on what you view as important. Is an entertainer more important than people who save lives or run countries? The estimated team salary cap for the NFL this year is 67 million dollars. This is based on a league-appointed limit, which is based on a percentage of team revenues, such as the NBA's 48 percent. There are around 50 players on an NFL team. Assuming each of these players gets an even share of this 67 million (which we know to be false), each player makes about $1,340,000. How does this compare to other jobs? Observe this table:
| Position | Average Annual Earnings In Canadian $'s
| Senior Federal Politician | Up to 110 thousand
| Doctor | Cap of $400,000
| Software Programmer | $35-$70,000
| Elementary Teacher | Average $42,000
| Lawyer | $50-$150,000
| Police Officer | $35-$55,000
| Bill Gates | $2,800,000,000(American Dollars) | |
|---|
As you can see, an average player makes more than all of the occupations, with the exeption of Mr. Gates. In fact, the minimum salary for a veteran NFL player is equal to the salary cap of an Ontario doctor. Yet players want more. Are they worth more than life-savers? They seem to think so. On the other hand, their profession relies on physical abilities. A single injurycould render a player useless.
The salary cap is in place to keep teams out of debt, not to offend players. But it does. Marquis players often hold out for more money, even though they make more than people who are more needed in society. But is it fair that Bill Gates makes more money than these people as well? Should common people, even th mighty Bill Gates have salary caps, regardless of their occupation? Think of this: while atheletes do make more money than others, Bill Gates absoletely WHIPS atheletes when it comes to income. Read this (courtesy of www.jokesoup.com):
Michael Jordan made over $300,000 a game. That equals $10,000 a minute, at an average of 30 minutes per game. With $40 million in endorsements, he made $178,100 a day, working or not. If he sleeps 7 hours a night, he makes $52,000 every night while visions of sugarplums dance in his head. If he goes to see a movie, it'll cost him $7.00, but he'll make $18,550 while he's there. If he decides to have a 5 minute egg, he'll make $618 while boiling it. He makes $7,415/hr more than minimum wage. He'll make $3,710 while watching each episode of Friends. If he wanted to save up for a new Acura NSX ($90,000) it would take him a whole 12 hours. If someone were to hand him his salary and endorsement money, they would have to do it at the rate of $2.00 every second. He'll probably pay around $200 for a nice round of golf, but will be reimbursed $33,390 for that round. Assuming he puts the federal maximum of 15% of his income into a tax deferred account (401k), he will hit the federal cap of $9500 at 8:30 a.m. on January 1st. If you were given a penny for every 10 dollars he made, you 'd be living comfortably at $65,000 a year. He'll make about $19.60 while watching the 100 meter dash in the Olympics. He'll make about $15,600 during the Boston Marathon. While the common person is spending about $20 for a meal in his trendy Chicago restaurant, he'll pull in about $5600. In his last year, he made more than twice as much as all U.S. past presidents for all of their terms combined. Amazing isn't it? Keep reading!
BUT...
If Jordan saves 100% of his income for the next 250 years, he'll still have less than Bill Gates has today. Game over.
Perhaps atheletes do have a right to be angry. Or do they? You decide.
Please vote here.
