"The salaries of professional athletes have always been a subject of debate. Athletes" salaries were only peanuts 20 years ago compared with the money even rookie athletes make today" (Clemons 48). Being a collegiate athlete, who one day hopes to play professionally, I truly and honestly believe that professional athletes do deserve the amount of money they"re getting paid. "Some people say that they don"t deserve the huge contracts. Then again, others feel that if a person has a talent and they are able to earn the money, why shouldn't they?" (Brane). My stance on the issue is probably different from one who is not a sports fan or doesn"t have the desire to one day play professionally.
"Today more people are attending sporting events than ever. Sports have a truly unique ability, they bring people of all races, genders, and social classes together forming one common bond, the well-being of the home team. Sports also give people a sense of hope, when fans see their favorite player score a touchdown or hit a homerun it gives them the faith that they can do well in their own endeavors ("Athlete Salaries"). If sports do this much for the people of our nation, then shouldn"t the players be paid accordingly? Athletes are not stupid, well at least their agents aren"t. If they can earn $25 million a year to do their job, why should they settle for anything less? Athletes are, ". taking full advantage of the money that they are being offered" (Brane). .
One reason athletes deserve to make the amount of money they do is because of the shortness of many players careers. "While the average person may work about 20 years in his/her career, professional athletes average less than half of that time" (Clemons 49). The average career in the NFL is about four and a half years, five years in the NBA and about six years in the MLB. Most of these athlete's careers are cut short because of injuries.