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Why Are Athletes Not Overpaid

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Devin Shallowhorn Dr. K. Kiefer-Newman English 103: Research Paper 10 December, 2014 Athletes Aren’t Overpaid In recent years, there has been a lot of talk regarding professional athletes being overpaid. With their contracts increasing every year, complaints about how no athlete is worth millions of dollars a year are continuous. Athletes are paid comparably related to others in their income class such as Chief Executive Officers(CEOs), musicians, and actors, and still get criticized for the amount of money they make. Are CEOs, musicians and actors considered more valuable to society than athletes are? Many people would argue and say yes, but from an economic standpoint, it is hard to argue that athletes make too much money considering the …show more content…

Contrary to popular opinion, professional athletes are not overpaid due to their rareness and …show more content…

They risk ending their careers in one play almost every night. Players fracture and break ankles, tear ACLs, break legs and some even suffer lifelong problems as result of playing. When an athlete suffers from an injury, it is often detrimental to their career because it wares the body down,which makes them more vulnerable, resulting in a higher risk of a second injury while playing. Sometimes if a more serious injury occurs, it can end the player’s career immediately, rather than causing a greater risk of ending it over time. For example, according to Gary Mihoces, “during the Buffalo Bills opening game of the season in 2007, tight end Kevin Everett suffered an injury to the neck and spinal cord which ended his career in the NFL.” When asked at a media briefing if he thought Everett might regain full motion and be able to walk, his doctor answered, “By life, I'm an optimist, but as a scientist and a clinician, I have to tell you that statistically the chances of that occurring are very small," (Mihoces) These athletes go through so much, not only during their careers, but after their careers as well. Ex-professional basketball player Bill Walton has had multiple surgeries since he has retired from the NBA. Walton is not alone either, many other professional athletes have suffered physically after retirement because of injury that happened

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