We Love The Stars But We Love The Game More
Posted: May 31, 2007 @ 3:49 pm
CNNSI lists the top paid athletes from the US and overseas.
Only one NFL player, Peyton Manning, makes the domestic top 20.
Golfers, auto racers, baseball and basketball players dominate the list. Some ready made reasons:
1. Golf is an individual sport. There’s no money to be shared with teammates. What’s more, advertising and golf have held a special relationship since at least the ’20s. Roland Marchand noted in Advertising the American Dream, that golfing became an early trait of the advertising class; this explains why Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson make far more in endorsements than any other athlete makes in salary. Only Michael Jordan has crashed golf’s hold on endorsement purses in recent years.
2. The other sports are smaller team sports. NBA superstars can carve up bigger slices of their pies since they play five-on-five and have rosters thirteen deep. Baseball is a team game, but relies on one-on-one duels between pitchers and batters. A pitchers stats are far less reliant on his defense than a quarterback is on his linemen and skill position teammates. Hence, it’s easier to single out the star in those sports and elevate him in the same manner as movie stars.
3. Golf, soccer, baseball and basketball allow for longer careers. Football’s brutality limits the average player’s career. Contrast Troy Aikman to a Jack Nicklaus, who can play on with the seniors.
No matter. The big money and the biggest ratings still flow to football. Our stars may not have the best Q-ratings, but they play in the best team game. If the big endorsement money goes elsewhere, so what?
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1st…and also don’t forget that among the team-games, that football prob. has the most players on a singel team that they have to devide money between as well as most staff.
Not 1st… I have to admit, I don’t really care about endorsement dollars but I am curious to learn more about the reported absence of Owens and Glenn from OTAs. Anyone know more?
dweil,
who cares? They were at the minicamp and performed at a high level. These are optional workouts and they didn’t show.
These guys are vets. They know the playbook and they know how to take care of their bodies.
Back in the day, the Bud Grant Vikings were always the last team to start camp and Grant could not get the veterans to participate in two a days. When he insisted one year, they simply walked out. And we’re talking HOF-caliber guys like Jim Marshall, Carl Eller and Allan Page.
Didn’t stop them from going to four Super Bowls.
Not only that the league only has 16 games plus playoffs to generate revenue for salaries where as baseball has 162 games and hockey and basketball have 82 games. Without the big TV contract and merchandise sales the disparity would be even bigger.
Raf:
They went to four, but they didn’t win them. Maybe that was part of the prob.
No, I doubt anything the Vikings did in August affected the results of games in January. They simply faced superior teams.
I blame their offense. They scored 7, 7,6 and 14 points in those losses.
That’s not a conditioning issue. It’s a talent issue.
“They scored 7, 7,6 and 14 points in those losses. ”
That’s incrediable!
I know the first of those four was on Kapp, but the other three were Tarkenton, who was the biggest choker ever seen in FB. How he made the HOF is totally beyond me–an example of lazy mediots voting for stats instead of superior talent and play.
For those who don’t remember him or didn’t see him play (I saw the demographics), he got lots of his yards for sorry Giants teams, basically against prevent defenses, since the Giants were hopelessly behind by the 3rd quarter. Yet, for either the Giants or Vikings, if he ever had a chance to win a game in the last two or three minutes, instead of beating that same prevent methodically, he would call a 40-yard pattern, then throw a 38-yard pass into double coverage–pick, end of chances, end of game. I made money betting against him in big games enough to remember it well.
Spagnola made a good point today on dc.com about Owens/Glenn absenses: this year there are three weeks of the “voluntary” practices, vs. just one week last year. Sure there’s a new regime and some new offensive stuff, but missing a couple of days isn’t going to make or break the offense. Not a big deal at all.
When asked what reasons he had for even considering skipping the Ryder Cup and playing in a golf tournament that weekend instead.
Tiger replied with a devilish grin,”I can think of one million reasons!”
Referring to the purse of course……something no other golfer wins as often as Eldrick. Still, he does in fact share money.
Steve Williams, his caddie makes more money than many professional golfers. Coaches he pays them too.
but…….he still makes mad money…..
The NFL also has the most stringent salary cap in pro sports. Baseball doesn’t have one, basketball’s salary cap is more of a guideline and I don’t know anything about hockey, but who cares?
I know this is now 2 posts old, but something Trey said made me think of another impact the UFL could have on the NFL. Players drafted by NFL teams who opt to sign with the UFL instead will more than likely come from bad teams, no?
I mean, I don’t expect any player to give up a chance going to the Patriots or Cowboys, but if you’re drafted by Arizona, Houston, Detroit, Oakland or Cleveland that UFL offer might look tempting.
The Cowboys are just a popular team, and I think that there are few teams out there that can rival the Cowboys in the number of players who say “it’s always been my dream to wear the star”…I’ve never heard ANYONE say that they’ve always wanted to be a Cardinal…
I know that no extremely high profile guys who go in the top 5 of the first round will give up a chance to play in the NFL, but what if Brady Quinn wasn’t from Cleveland? He might have an Eli Manning moment and just refuse to play for them…
Rafael,
I care. The Cowboys have a new coaching staff that includes a new and very inexperienced offensive coordintator, a very inexperienced starting quarterback and a very expensive wide receiver who, evidently, did not know how to learn the playbook last year.
These Cowboys are a team that have under-achieved for several years. They need to do everything possible to perform up to their abilities or suffer through another 9-7 type season without a playoff win.
If and when the Cowboys start going deep in the playoffs, then maybe “the stars” can be noshows at the OTAs.
Its about money and exposure that will lead to more money. Who drafts you is much less important than who gives you the chance at more money. Your extremely lucky if you can play 10 years and you must maximize your dollars.
dweil,
When has Terry Glenn ever dogged it in a Cowboys uniform? Phillips mentioned him as a standout in the minicamp. T.O. practiced ahead of schedule there.
The O in OTA stands for OPTIONAL. I’ve heard nothing about discord between the coaches and players. All I’ve heard is the opposite. I take that back. O stands for ORGANIZED. Still, they’re optional practices.
When there’s no proof that they’re holding out because they’re unhappy with their contracts; no proof they’re loafing through the workouts they attended; no proof of discord between the players and their coaches and ample proof of strong performances by said no shows, you have a non-story, IMO.
You and I have no say in when the Cowboys have to practice. And they have no say in when we have to work.
“You and I have no say in when the Cowboys have to practice”
Doesn’t that leave our young WRs and prospects more reps and evaluation by our coaches?
Raphael,
When is the last time the Cowboys won a playoff game? When is the last time a Jason Garrett offense scored more points than an offense coordinated by any other OC in the league? When is the last time Terrell Owens could say he knew his playbook front to back and front again?
The “O” may stand for optional but optional doesn’t mean you have to stay away. There is no one of the Cowboys team that can stand on his laurels. So even if Glenn never dogged anything (and I don’t recall saying that he did), Romo can use him and Garrett can use him. And I think it is unfortunate that both Glenn and Owens chose the option not to participate instead of the option to participate. But maybe you can tell me how the Cowboys are better off with those two guys not participating.
I see no harm in them missing these sessions. I don’t believe it will have any effect at all.
There, I told you.
dweil,
Romo set Owens and Glenn on fire during mini-camp. Owens risked his career for Dallas last year, and he is back ahead of schedule. What more do you want? If Owens sits out last year with the finger, we lose to the Giants and Falcons. Glenn had a knee problem last year. He is going to need plays off. Crayton, Austin, and Hurd need the reps.
Glenn and Owens will catch plenty of balls from Romo before the year starts.
Flozel Adams is out and limping. Why risk Owen’s finger and Glenn’s health when they have done enough for now?