Pro Athletes Overpaid Essay

Areeb Bhagat

Mrs. Harlin

English I Honors

February 21, 2023

Overpayment of Professional Athletes

The salaries of professional athletes are rising tremendously each year. Athletes are being paid immense amounts of money every season for playing a sport to entertain their fans and people across the nation. Some professional athletes make more money in a year than other professionals make in a lifetime of work. They receive an easier way to long-term success than the other people who work hard day and night to provide for the daily needs of their families. Athletes are overpaid because different professions deserve higher compensation

Many professional sports league players who are in the NFL and NBA make an abundance of money throughout their career. “In the N.F.L., the average was ‘only’ $2.7 million, but one of football's highest-paid players, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, just signed a four-year contract for $134 million. Compare those wages with the national average salary for a firefighter: about $45,000 a year. It's about $56,000 for a schoolteacher and nearly $74,000 for an emergency room nurse” (“Are Pro Athletes Overpaid”). Teachers who work hard to shape the future and dreams of students get paid almost 600 times less every year than someone throwing the ball around a field. Other professionals who are sacrificing their lives to save the people of the community are getting paid nearly nothing compared to the salary of professional athletes. “No matter how you look at it, the guy getting paid 19 million dollars to swing a bat at a ball is making more per game than the average American household makes in an entire decade” (Mueller). A normal American household’s lifetime income is incomparable to that of an athlete. An average person in the US works day and night to support themselves and their family, while athletes play games a few times a week and make a

In recent events, Buffalo Bills safety, Damar Hamlin, went into cardiac arrest following a tackle in the first quarter of the game. “Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and was administered CPR, and his heartbeat was revived on the field. He was then taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in critical condition” (Mather). This was a shocking and unexpected injury that could have possibly ended Hamlin’s future career. He was also paid a huge amount of money in his first year on the Buffalo Bills. “Hamlin signed a four-year, $3.64 million contract after he was drafted in the sixth round in 2021…Hamlin's base salary for 2022 is $825,000; if he were to spend the whole season on IR, his salary would be $455,000” (Damar Hamlin reportedly to get full salary on injured reserve; veteran agent calls split contracts 'disgusting tool'). Knowing that this injury could have been the end of his career, the salary he had earned in his first year of playing in the NFL and what he would have made on the injured reserve would have been able to pay for any necessary treatment needed for his recovery and well-being without having to take financial aid. When playing a professional sport, there are many risks involved that will require money in the future and many problems where money will be needed. However, athletes should get paid