9 to 5 Between the Lines

Once their greatest passions, are athletes starting to look at their jobs as...jobs?

Fun Fact Time!

When I was about nine years old, I played right field for Dig'm Installers at Levittown Pacific Little League. I was on the team with my little brother and some friends and it was fun to be apart of the team. We ended up winning the championship and, as a reward, the coach took us to a Phillies game (my first Phillies game that I've written about before). I thought I was pretty good and had nothing but potential to get better. It was right around this time that I read in our class "Weekly Reader" that A-Rod became the highest paid baseball player ever. He was even making more money than the president! At this point I thought to myself:

 "Hey Lil' Average Bro! I bet you could play baseball for a living!"

And that was it. I would be a pro baseball player when I grew up. Done. Deal!

I thought it through completely. Everything from the position I would play to my number was all hashed out and ready to go. But there was one thing I was concerned about.

Lil' Average Bro: Hey Mom.

Mom: Yes Average Bro.

Lil' Average Bro: Do pro baseball players have to practice every day?

Mom: Yes, definitely.

And in that moment, my dreams were dashed.


Reality Check Fact Time!

I hated practice. I hated playing baseball as a matter of fact. Being apart of the team was about the only thing that kept me in that dark green uniform. I hated getting dirty, I hated wearing baseball pants, and cleats always gave me foot cramps. I might have batted .000 that whole season and the "sun was in my eyes" whenever the ball got hit my way. I was content to sit on the bench and let any other kid play while I read the books that I brought to games. Sure I would play in a weekly game for 2 months a year for $25 Million. But practice everyday? That wasn't worth it at all.

My baseball career was very short lived after this realization. I loved the idea of playing a sport for a living but do it for the love of the sport? Not for me! And that's not the mentality to have...right?

It turns out a lot of pro athletes these days have that exact mentality. Though they have a great deal more skill than me, it's becoming more and more common for guys to look at their sports as paychecks alone.

Take new Eagle's defensive back, Cari Williams. He was in hot water earlier this off season for missing all of the Eagles' OTAs. He got married, went to his daughter's dance recital, had a dentist appointment and "house building". His excuse was that the the "O" in OTAs stands for optional.

"Teams, organizations, the NFL itself hold players captive over the OTAs, They say it’s not mandatory but it’s mandatory, you know what I’m saying?  If you want me to be there, if you want me to play football year round, you don’t want me to not have an offseason, you don’t want me to have a personal life let me know."

Now Williams is just coming off the Ravens Superbowl team, so maybe he feels like he's reached his pinnacle and isn't as highly invested in the game anymore. But, at any rate, he seems to be viewing his career the way most Americans view their job. 'I'll put in my time as long as they're paying me but not a minute more'.

The problem is, Williams doesn't have a job that "most Americans" do. In fact, he has a job that most Americans dream of. He has a job that requires some discipline and sacrifice but a job that he will get compensated for handsomely in the end.

Look at Bengals defensive tackle Andrew Whitworth. When there were rumblings about the NFL moving a franchise to London, Whitworth was not cool with the idea.

“I would hope that I was financially able to quit. That’s what I would hope because if I was, my papers would be the first one in.”

He sees his NFL career as something he can just quit, not because his body has broken down or his mental state is suffering but because he feels like it. Because he wouldn't like what his company is asking him to do. Another thing millions of Americans would scoff at, especially when you consider his career. And Whitworth strongly believes a lot of his NFL colleagues would follow his lead in that particular situation. I don't doubt it one bit.

Of course there are many athletes that still have a love and a passion for the game they play. Kobe, Lebron, Tiger, AP, and Mariano Rivera just to name a few. They aren't playing for a paycheck as much as they're playing for the love of the game, for the advancement of the game, and for their overall legacy in their sports. No, it's not selfless, but it's bigger than a dollar bill deciding the moves of their lives.

But for every Tiger and Kobe there are athletes that do what they do for their pockets only. There are players who insist on continuously using steroids knowing that they can get a bigger payday both before and after they get caught and taint the sport. There are boxers who won't give fans of their sport the fight of the decade because they can't agree on where 10% of the total winnings should go. There are even college athletes who risk the eligibility of their entire program for the present and for years to come because they want to break the rules and make a few extra dollars.

Recently, the great Art Donovan passed away. Mike Golic talked about him on his morning radio show along with the era he played in. He talked about an era where football was a second career for its athletes. Most guys had car dealerships or construction jobs in the off season. The winner of the championship got a reward of just around $15,000. They played the game strictly because they loved it and they were good at it. Their NFL money was certainly a nice additive to their regular salary, but it wasn't what drove them. The love of the game and wanting to be the best at it is what kept them going. I have a feeling they are displeased with the way the league is going.

This is all not to say that there's anything wrong with what is going on the world of sports. There are definitely some things that will hurt the sport in years to come, but athletes have to eat too. They have to take care of their families and make a living. With the state of the economy, maybe it's more important for them to make sure they're well taken care of before the team. This is something the rest of "most Americans" hold as a prime tactic in their daily life. Me first, everyone else second. Even with people who work as a team. That dollar bill eventually and unfortunately decides the moves of a lot of our lives, so why do we only crucify athletes when they let it dictate their lives?

It's safe to say that my nine year old dream of being a professional baseball player will never come true. I'm also saddened whenever I watch an NFL draft because athletes are being drafted who are younger than me, meaning my chances for pro football are evaporating as well. But I wish I had known back then, that you didn't have to be head over heels in love with the sport to play it for a living. Just the desire to make some money out of it, and that's all we're looking for in the long run anyway. Isn't it?