$10 Million?

So, I hear on the radio this afternoon, a Detroit Lion player (I didn't recognize the name, but it wasn't Dominic Suh or Calvin Jackson) turned down a 3-year, $30 million contract!!!!!!  And, $20 million of it was guaranteed?  A guy turns down $10 million a year to play football?  For the Lions?

First, I don't begrudge any of these professional athletes their money.  I think it's ridiculous that they get so much, but I don't pay it.  So, more economic power to them.  Second, $10 million a year isn't enough money?  I know, I know...  "But their careers are so short."  Yeah, right.  As if I made 1/10 that in my entire lifetime.  And certainly, with the college degrees they were handed (note, I didn't say "earned"), they can't be expected to go out and get jobs after their playing days.  Gee, nobody would hire an ex-NFL player--nah!  Third, who is this guy again?  How many Super Bowls or even playoff wins did he lead the Lions to over the years?  Oh, none.  Uh-huh.

Why don't people complain about professional athletes' salaries or, for that matter, the Hollywood-types, television celebrities, or hippy-rock stars?  Oh, they grouse bitterly about the "greed" of CEOs, the big bankers, Wall Street, Big Oil, and so on.  Gee, how many athletes, movie and TV stars, etc. run companies that actually hire a lot of people?  Oh, an agent here, a bodyguard there, but hundreds or thousands or more employees?  I'm not arguing that some CEOs et al aren't dishonest, unscrupulous, and other bad things--no doubt some are.  But if some guy is running a profit at a corporation that, in turn, employs thousands of people, not to mention increases the value of the company (and its stock), why shouldn't that guy get paid a lot?

At what point does envy turn to greed?  Certainly they are related, closely so.  Isn't, in truth, envy greed itself?  "I want what the other guy has!"  Nope, only the other guy is greedy, never us.  That's why so many of us can go on European vacations, own cottages and condos, have sailboats, drive big SUVs, and more, but then rail about other people's "greed."  It, I think, has become obvious what other people have doesn't bother me; hypocrisy does.

A while back I had a discussion with a guy who has been quite vocal about the greed of Big Oil, especially.  A way to calm him down is to ask about the tickets at U of M games, the prices of food at the Tigers' ballpark, and professional athletes' salaries.  Oh, he doesn't mind those, after all, it's the U of M, the Tigers, and athletes.  They are different.  Yeah, right....

Imagine the former Penn State football player, whose name I don't remember and didn't recognize, who tried to justify not being critical of Joe Paterno and his silence during the pedophile years.  I can't imagine anything to justify it, but the former player said, "No man is perfect."  Well, he has a point.  Hitler was said to like children and dogs....