Introduction Throughout the decades, the popularity of sports has grown in spectacular fashion. As the popularity continues to sky rocket, so does player salaries. For example, in 1972 the average NFL player made $27,500, MLB player $37,000, NBA player $37,000, and the NHL player makes $40,000 on average (Sullivan, 2000). Today the average salary of professional athletes overshadows these numbers immensely. According to the Huffington Post, the average NFL player earns 1.9 million per season, MLB player 3.2 million, NBA player 5.15 million, and the NHL player makes 2.4 million on average. As a result, athletes across the country put in countless hours to try and make it to the next level. Athletes dream of making it to the professional level and earning a salary that can support their family for generations to come. To get to the professional ranks, however, takes extreme dedication and commitment …show more content…
For some athletes, however, academics may come second. This is of concern, especially when you look at the number of athletes that reach the professional ranks. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), of the 7.8 million high school athletes, only 460,000, or about 6% of them will participate in sports at the colligate level. Of those athletes that make it to the collegiate level, the chance to play at the professional level drops considerably. For example, of the 71,000 football players in the NCAA, only 1.6 percent of them will play in the NFL. The story is the same for other sports as well, NBA 1.2%, MLB 8.6%, and NHL 6.8% of athletes will go on to play major professional sports (NCAA, 2015). As a result, academics should be highly stressed, and student-athletes should understand that academics are number