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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Average Salary of A Professional Athlete VS. Average Salary of A Marine



 By Marissa Hager

Average Salary of A Professional Athlete VS. Average Salary of A Marine
Because the Presidential election is over and everyone is talking about it, I thought I would throw out a new topic to discuss. When it came to the average salary in America, I always wondered why a professional athlete made more income than a marine.





It doesn’t make sense to me that a lot of professional athletes get over paid when marines are the ones who are risking their lives for America. At least athletes are allowed to go home and see their families when some marines leave home and never return.
According to http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/article/marines-are-professional-athletes, marines are considered professional athletes too. They have to go through brutal training that requires a lot of skill to be the best. Not saying that athletes don’t work hard because they do. The only difference between the two “professional athletes” is that one is paid more. This doesn’t seem fair because marines are the ones who wake up every day not knowing if they’ll see tomorrow’s sunrise. At any point in time, their life could be over before they know it while athletes can wake up every day knowing that they get to play their game they love and never does death cross their mind.

People say that professional athletes should get paid more because at the end of the day, they are the ones pleasing Americans with entertainment. When in reality, they couldn’t be doing what they are doing if it wasn’t for the Marines who protect our nation’s safety so we can do the things we love. It doesn’t seem right that if an athlete is injured, they still get paid as if they were never hurt. So here it is, the average salary of a professional athlete is $1.6 million, while the average salary of a marine is around $76,200. Does this seem fair that a person protecting your freedom and rights are paid less than a person who is pleasing your entertainment?
This video proves that athletes are overpaid and marines are more beneficial to society. 

 I’m not trying to bash on athletes because I am a sports fan myself but I just don’t think that it’s fair that someone who is fighting for our country and our independence should be given less money because they are the ones who give us the opportunity to do what we want. Lots of people don’t realize the mental and physical issues that the marines face when they get home. Some can’t even go back to their daily lives when they get home because they think that they are still in war, which life is harder not only for them, but for their families too.  
This video proves that marines have to face many struggles when they get home because had such an impact on their life. Even PTSD is life threatening. 
So in the end, do you think that a man with a helmet on a field defending this country should make less of a salary than a man with a helmet on a field defending a ball?

Sources:
"Pro Athlete Direct™, average salary of pro athletes in our database." Pro Athlete Direct--Connect with +6,000 pro athletes & their agents. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012. <http://www.proathletedirect.com/averagesalaries.html>.
"US Marine Corps Salaries | Glassdoor." Glassdoor - an inside look at jobs and companies. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012. <http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/US-Marine-Corps-Salaries-E41423.htm>.
form, submitting this, and you accept the Mollom privacy policy. "Marines Are Professional Athletes | Marine Corps Gazette." Marine Corps Association & Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012. <http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/article/marines-are-professional-athletes>.

36 comments:

  1. I definitely think Marines and those who serve our country should get paid more. I am a big sports fan, but when it comes down to it, if I had to I could live without professional sports. I know that becoming a professional athlete and working hard every day can come with some risk, but the risks the Marines and other people deal with daily outweigh the risks a professional athlete goes through, by far.

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  2. What a great topic to discuss! I completely agree with your opinion. Professional athletes are among one of the highest paid professions in the United States…and for what- for throwing a ball in a basket, for tackling a linemen, or even hitting a homerun. Sure, these are all great sports and entertaining to many Americans, but how can these people be getting paid in the millions while the US Marine, Navy, Soldiers, and more are out fighting for our freedom and country. How is that fair? People like marines, who give their life to fight for this country not only deserve more money, but they also need it as well. They need to support their families at home, and like you mentioned, possibly deal with the after-effects of war like PTSD. This arrangement of money should definitely be discussed, and hopefully, changed!

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  3. Professional athletes getting paid more than marines and other people in military services is definitely an issue many people are disgruntled with. Not only soldiers and marines have a lower salary than athletes, but also the police and firefighters also have similar issues to having a lower salary than pro athletes. Many jobs are suffering because of the high income that athletes are getting, something should definitely be done about it.

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  4. I love this topic, particularly because I wonder about this all the time. In my personal opinion, it is SO unfair that the men and women who are risking their lives to fight for our country get paid a meager wage compared to professional athletes. You pointed out many of the main points on this that I won't waste my time restating, but great job. I completely agree with you on most points. I hope this can someday change.

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  5. This is a topic I am definitely passionate about, because after college I am most likely going into the Navy to be a Pilot or Flight Officer. And I couldn't agree more. I'm not agreeing because I'm selfish, I would agree regardless of what I'm doing with my life. So yes pro athletes entertain people and probably help the economy with all their sales, but a member or our Armed Forces is wayyyy more valuable. We could live our daily lives without professional athletes, but we could not live without soldiers, like Marines, fighting for us. As we sit here, there are people getting shot at halfway around the globe, and no one seems to notice or care. Meanwhile, if a player scores a game winning shot or something, they will be praised and talked about all over the country. It's completely useless and backwards. If a pro athlete dies or is injured, almost everyone hears about it...If a Marine or soldier lays down his life for his squadmates, a.k.a. his family, by taking a bullet for them or by jumping on top of a grenade, how would we know? Exactly, we wouldn't...The more I think about this the more it infuriates me. I have a POW-MIA flag and an American Flag both hanging on the wall in my room. I care. Everyone should. Professional athletes can live with $1 million less per year. Any argument against that is dumb. They can. If soldiers made more, even $100,000, then we would be in much better shape. People who actually sacrifice something for this great country, like their life, will be better off than they are now. And professional athletes would still live their normal lives.

    A very good quote from the Armed Forces:

    All Gave Some, Some Gave All...

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  6. Great topic. The outrageous salaries of "professional" athletes these days always amazes me when I see them compared to other salaries in other fields It is horrifying that the American public seems to think higher of people meant to entertain us than of people meant to protect us. Even though he is touted as the fastest swimmer in the world, does Michael Phelps deserve the more lucrative benefits than a soldier constantly on the front lines? Does J.J. Watt deserve more than the President of the United States? Does Charlie Sheen deserve more than the men and women in our police force? (Well, maybe) After thinking about it for about 3 seconds, the answer that should come to everybody's mind ins a resounding NO!

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  7. I agree with this post, any one serving our country in the Military are hero's and deserve the utmost respect. But we need to look at this from a realistic standpoint, of course people serving in the military deserve more money and recognition than an NFL or NBA player, but it is never going to happen. People in this country don't always get what they deserve, it is not right but that is how it is.

    But we can't sit here complaining about how much professional athletes get paid, when all of us watch pro-games, and the Olympics, and own jerseys of professional athletes.. ect. When all of this stuff is the reason as to why all of them are millionaires.

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  8. It doesn’t seem fair at all, but I think that for the marines, it isn’t about the money; it’s about protecting their country. They know full well what they’re getting into but still choose to do what they do. In my opinion, they should get paid much more than what they are now. No one would argue that they get paid too much for what they do.

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  9. I do agree that athletes get paid way too much for what little they seem to have to do. I know that the NFL gets paid a lot because of all the people that happen pay for the tickets to the games and all of the fan products that people buy. I think that athletes should realize how getting hurt in a game is nothing compared to being hurt on the battlefield in a foreign land. Maybe if the military was to pay more people would have the motivation to join the military and realize why they should be the ones to get paid more.

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  10. I agree. men and women serving our country should get paid more I also think that pro athletes should get paid less but it's not going to happen. there are over 577000 people in the navy alone so if they did get paid more it couldn't be much. The government is in the process of increasing military pay by 70% it has yet to be approved by the senate. But for me it's not about the money. I'd do it for free if i could still get a place to live and some food in my fridge.

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  11. I agree totally with what you think about this topic. People defending our country deserve a lot more than people playing sports that entertain us. Also, if they get paid less then probably the price of the sporting tickets would cost less making it more affordable for people to watch these sporting events. Then these people wasting a lot of money to go to one sporting event could save this money and use it on something that will help them. I think sporting events are very fun and it gives people something to be passionate about, but if they didnt get paid as much, money could go towards better things. The people defending our country should get paid more than professional athletes.

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  12. This was a very great topic to talk about, Marisa! This never really came across my mind until you made a post about it. Now that I've read it this really makes me wonder why athletes do get paid more than someone who is fighting for our country's safety and rights. I agree with you 100%. Athletes are people who's occupation seems to revolve around entertainment while a person who is in the Marines, their job is to protect their people and they're risking their lives for us. Like you said a Marine doesn't know if they get to see another day whereas an athlete can count on seeing another day. The way our society works, I don't think it's far for someone that works in one of the army branches to get paid less than an athlete. It should be the opposite way around. We should appreciate everything the marines do for us. Honestly, they're the reason why we're still waking up to a new day every day. Athletes will come and go but the people that protect our country will always be with us through thick and thin.

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  13. Since a few of my friends are going into the military in the coming years this topic really intrigues me. It’s really hard to accept the fact that the men and women who fight for our freedoms get next to nothing in comparison to our much loved athletes. Since athletes are given the opportunity to play a sport for their career I think it is a fair compromise that part of ticket sales for sports games go to the salaries of the hard working soldiers of the United States.

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  14. I completely agree with your topic, Marisa. I knew that professional athletes had a higher salary, but I didn’t know how significantly different the salaries are between the athletes and the marines. That is insane that the athletes get over a million dollars a year and marines don’t even get $100,000! That really doesn’t seem right. Athletes don’t risk their lives each and every day for America. All they do is play a sport and entertain people, and like you said, I am not bashing on the athletes either because I do enjoy watching sports, but I think at least the marines should get the same amount of money or even more than the athletes because they are the ones protecting America and risk their lives every day. With that being said, I strongly agree with you. People in the military should get paid more than people in professional sports without a doubt.

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  15. This is a very interesting post. I agree that it's not fair that professional athletes get paid more than an average man in the Marines. It'd ridiculous to see that people said they should get paid more because they're entertaining when really the Marines should be more of an entertainment because they're actually fighting for each and every one of us Americans and that's really sad to hear that people care more about watching a professional athlete compete. I myself think it's a great idea to bring this to more people's attention to allow higher salaries and lower taxes for the people who really do make a difference in our lives. Very strong post Marissa.
    Shannon Douglas

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  16. I think this is a great topic because it makes you really think about what is going on around us. It is crazy that someone that can get up each morning and play one game gets paid more that a person that is waking up and going to be on call and can be doing something a million times harder than playing a game of basketball. The athletes are giving the country something to look forward to and that is understandable because we all need something to do. But then those people in the military are doing so much more for our country are not acknowledged at all.

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  17. I feel the same way. Athletes are overpaid for what they do. While there are health risks for both, the sacrifice made by a marine every single day they wake up, is far greater than anything that a professional athlete goes through. I have had a number of people in my family join the marines and for every one of them that was in combat, the hardest part was adujusting to life back here. I have heard stories, not just from them but other marines I know, that keep dreaming about things they saw and did over seas and how they sleep with a gun on their nighstand or under their pillow. Marines definately deserve more than what they are given and its about time we do something about it.

    Kevin Baumann

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  31. totally agree with you. why should athletes be paid more for defending a ball then our soldiers who defend this country. U.S. soldiers should be paid the same amount as pro athletes.

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  32. Personally, having a husband on the other side of the world. It's quite disturbing that the men on my t.v. screen are getting paid more than me and my husbands salary put together. I am a huge sports fan but, what if something happens to my husband? I will have to raise our 3 girls alone. While athletes' wives wont have to worry about something like that. They dont have to worry if their husbands (or wives) are going to wake up the next day.Pardon me, if they will make it through their usually "work" day.My husband is protecting us and he gets less than a third of someone playing with a football on the t.v. how is that fair to him or us. I'm not saying athletes shouldnt get paid, but lets be honest, all athletes do is spend it on big houses and fancy cars (sometimes drugs). Not all of them, no. Yet,i wait upon a phone call telling me that my soldier isnt coming home. While everyone else waits to see if their favorite team is going to the superbowl. And bless all of the athletes WILLINGLY giving to charities.

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  33. OK I'm about to graduate high school and I'm going to join the military and I believe that if you are gonna defend that pro athletes deserve to make more money OK but they don't have to take the risk of a bullet or some shrapnel every time they go outside for a cigarette or to use the restroom. They go on a field and run around with a ball for entertainment ppurposes. So I think that the pay should be decreased for sports players and increased for our brave men and women that protect our rights and our way of life so you can watch your football or basketball game.

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