Persuasive Essay "Pro Athletes Salaries""

Would you want your whole career ruined due to a mistake? Professional athletes more than likely label as the “Golden Children” and are expected to never do anything wrong. These athletes are the one’s little kids and young athletes look up to and aspire to be. One mistake and this can all go away. Everyone makes mistakes, but professional athletes take the fall harder due to their fame and fortune. Although professional athletes are in the public eye, their career should not be ruined due to crimes people commit every day because, underneath all the fame and fortune, they are just regular people.

Many people believe that professional athletes are “above the law”. In reality, they are human beings like you and me who, no matter what the circumstances, can and will be charged like an average person. The offense of the crime can certainly come into play on whether or not a professional athlete who commits a crime should be allowed to play again.

Though this NFL conduct is in the light, it is unnecessary because the U.S. criminal justice system has the ability to end the professional sports careers of society’s worst criminals. Everyone asked themselves how could such a successful, talented person throw their opportunity away like this? Crimes from the past always catch up and come to light in the justice system. The NFL from now on is trying to prevent incidents like this from happening from making their off field standards stronger, and making consequences stronger that come with

In thirteen years of golf, Tiger Woods has made over a billion dollars making him the highest paid athlete ever. He has been the highest paid athlete now for five years in a row. We all know that many people in the world watch him play every weekend and admire him, but is the amount of entertainment he provides really worth 128 million dollars a year? Tiger is only one of many professional athletes who are extremely overpaid. “People forget that sports is entertainment,” says Leonard Armato, a sports agent. Although professional athletes provide entertainment for millions of viewers around the world, they are overpaid because the millions of dollars that they make could be distributed more evenly throughout society and go to things of a

The court system may have allowed many of these players to walk away from very serious crimes with inadequate punishment while the NFL’s response did little to discourage criminal behavior. Because of this, the first part of the solution lies with the judicial system to begin holding players accountable to the same standards as the average American citizen. Michael Vick served just a year and a half behind bars in a state that routinely sentences individuals to five-year terms for the same crime (Humane Society). In the case of O.J. Simpson, a jury of his peers allowed him to walk out of a courtroom a free man despite compelling

Rice is certainly not the only player to involve himself in a violent crime. Adrian Peterson physically abused his son, and Greg Hardy physically assaulted a woman after a night of drinking; threatening to kill her. Peterson received a restructured contract with the Minnesota Vikings that includes millions in new guaranteed money, and Hardy signed with the Dallas Cowboys even before his suspension was reduced two weeks ago

A high school athlete, known as Brian Banks, age 16, was accused of raping a classmate. The prosecutor ruled for 41 years in prison. Banks confessed to making out with the victim, but never raping her. He was charged as an adult and sentenced to prison. After wasting 10 years of his life, Banks accuser announced that she lied about Banks raping her.

During the 2010 season, Brown started all 12 games and only allowed 6.5 sacks with zero holding penalties. However, he was suspended for 4 games and fined $149,294 for substance abuse charges. For the 2011 season, he was named by to the All-Pro second team by the Associated Press and listed on USA Today’s All-Joe Team. He was also voted to play for the 2012 Pro Bowl. During the season, he did not allow a single sack and did not commit any holding penalties.

The topic of paying college athletes for their athletic performance has become a rising issue over the years. Currently, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) does not allow college athletes to accept any money from sponsors or charge money for things such as autographs. College level athletes are also not allowed to receive payment for their participation under the NCAA rules. Therefore, it can be looked at as college athletes are working for virtually no reward. I find this to be a flaw in the NCAA system. I, myself, am a college athlete, and I understand what it is like to put in the hard work and time and get almost nothing in return. I believe that college athletes should receive some sort of payment for their hard work and dedication they put into their sports. I will be focusing this essay around the concept of why athletes deserve some form of payment. Although most athletes receive some sort of scholarship, it does not completely cover the cost of attending a university. Athletes are also a good part of the reason college level sports bring in such high revenue totals. Lastly, college athletes dedicate an extensive amount of extra time to their college sport, missing out on some of the most important college services. Because of this, college athletes deserve some sort of payment for their time.

Professional athletes who break the law, in addition to jail time, should be banned from their sport because they are role models to athletes everywhere. Professional athletes set examples for every athlete out there, this ranges between elementary and college students. We all look up to these athletes and follow their lead in hopes to accomplish all that they have one day. With that in mind, there is also many negative sides to this. When a professional athlete breaks the law, that negative example is now

These incidents were both on top of the incidents by Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice, making it four domestic violence cases during the 2014- 2015 NFL season. John Weinfuss of ESPN.com reported that Jonathan Dwyer was released from the Arizona Cardinals after "his arrest... on charges of aggravated assault" (Weinfuss). The victims of his assault were his wife and eighteen month old child (Weinfuss). Greg Hardy, as reported by David Newton of ESPN.com, was charged for domestic violence against his girlfriend. Greg Hardy, though was not released from his team. Greg Hardy was placed on the exempt list by Roger Goodell. "Carolina general manager Dave Gettleman has said repeatedly he hopes to sign [Greg Hardy] to a long-term contract" (Newton). Some people were bothered by the handling of these situations as well because the reason one player was released and the other one wasn't was because of the skill they bring to the National Football League. Essentially the NFL dropped Dwyer because he wasn’t as popular as other players. Greg Hardy was the head of the sacks department for the Carolina Panthers in the 2013-2014 season (Newton) while Jonathan Dwyer was just a backup running back for the Arizona Cardinals. Both players were arrested for the same charges but one is not on an NFL roster and the other one is waiting for a contract extension. A combination of all these cases brought a lot of unwanted attention to the National Football League and commissioner Roger Goodell. This caused the NFL to make major changes to their policies regarding domestic violence. A credible source that came from CNN gave the new polices handed out for domestic violence. Rodger Goodell inquired on the article stating "I didn't get it right. Simply put, we have to do better. And we will," (Almasy,Durand,p.2). That’s Goodell talking about how the Ray Rice case went

Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman was tested positive for steroid use setting all new grounds for the NFL. When both his samples came back positive the NFL had to do something. Thanks to merriman it was made that all who fail a test will not be allowed to participate in the Pro Bowl. This was a new and large punishment for all players who were to fail off almost any drug was punishable. Merriman was a young 22 year old rookie linebacker with an already impressive career going for him. With fiftytwo tackles and an impressive ten sacks under his belt already. Also finishing with five passes defended and two forced fumbles he was doing great. In just six games he was second on the careers with only 5 ½ stacks. He was given the nickname

Athletes argue that they are role models for children and endorse products. This is true, but it is what goes along with the job. I would be prod if I knew that billions and billions of young impressionable children wanted to be just like me. You should not have to be paid to be a role model, there is no reason that one should be negative, commit crimes, and do “bad” things regardless of you being an athlete or not. It should be an honor to be praised and loved by billions, this is why I feel the reasoning of the professional athletes that demand higher wages are illegitimate.

Sporting events is a place for people to go, relax, have fun, and do something they enjoy doing, watching sports. However, the average family finds it difficult to buy tickets to them and still there are 66,960 fans that attend an NFL game. (Wikipedia) The public contributes to the athletes’ salary and then complains about how

Often, even without trying an elite athlete becomes a role model for young people, this is because they are fit, focused and famous.