In the debate of NFL players complaining about how much money they are not making they fail to realize how out of touch they are with the real world.  Below I have included a list of the top paid CEOs in the US.  There are those that try to demonize the owners because they are so much wealthier than the players.  Well in the real world the rift between the salaries of executives  and the employees is far much greater than in the NFL.  The paid CEO of Capital One makes 2,934 time more money than one of the better paying positiong in his company.  The best paid players in the NFL (Usually quarterbacks) make almost as much as the owners do and sometimes more in some cases. (Matt Stafford made over $15 million in his first year and the Lions actually lost money.)

What I am getting at is that the players have it much better than the rest of us.  Professional athletes are the highest paid employees in the US as far as average salaries of major corporations go.   Anyone of these guys that complains about not getting enough money should try to go out in the real world and have to try to survive on what most people do.  I am on the side of the owners and the players should be willing to take a cut from their ridiculous salaries and be greatfull instead of entitled.  The owners are always going to be wealthy.  Most of them were billionaires before they even bought an NFL franchise anyway.  Take a look at some of the stats below and tell me if the players don't have a good deal.

Top Paid CEOs

From Forbes

Median Salary by Job

Employer: Capital One Financial Corp

$ 85,000 Business Manager (47 times less than average NFL QB)

$ 55,000 Branch Manager

$ 45,000 Bank Analyst

$ 40,000 Assistant Branch Manager

$ 30,000 Personal Banker  

$ 32,000 Customer Service Representative

$ 25,000 Teller

NFL Average Salaries *taken form USA Today NFL Salaries

$4,041,016 Quarterback (96)

$2,355,996 Defensive End (168)

$1,897,365 Corner Back (194)

$1,874,185 Offensive Linemen (322)

$1,857,419 Defensive Tackles (149 )

$1,784,912 Wide Receiver (200)

$1,664,492 Linebacker (247)

$1,455,235 Running Back (170)

$1,477,780 Safeties (144)

$1,363,329 Kicker / Punter (71)

$1,260,075 Tight End (108)

(1869) players total

Players salary segment breakdown

38 - over $10,000,000 per year

133 - $5,000,000 - $9,999,999 per year

168 - $3,000,000 - $4,999,999 per year

474 - $1,000,000 - $2,999,999 per year

114 - $800k - $999k per year

320 - $500k - $799k per year

583 - $300k-$ 499k per year

Simple Breakdown

38 - $10 mil +

775 - $1 mil – $ 9.9 mil

1,017 Under $1,000,000

Average Profit of NFL franchise around $40 million according to Forbes

Rift of average person (50k)

600 times less than the CEO ($30m)

Rift of the average nfl player

16 times less than the owners/CEO

Fun with numbers

Only 3 players cleared $20 mil in salary last year Eli Manning ($20m), Jay Cutler ($22m), and Philip Rivers ($25m)

40% of the league are millionaires in one year, 70% in two years, and 100% in three years.

At a salary of $50,000 per year it would take 20 years to earn $1 million.

The average player in the NFL plays for four years.

The average NFL salary is $1,867,555 per year.

$7,470,220 is the average career income for an NFL player.

The average US household income is $50,233.

At a salary of $50,000 per year it would take 149 years to earn $7,470,220.

The average lifespan in America is 72 ½ years. The average American works only 40 of those years.

The average NFL player earns in four years what it would take the above average person to earn in over three lifetimes.

The average NFL player who wants to complain about their situation and expect support from the average person is a greedy moron. 

Go ahead and try to negotiate the best deal you can, but don't even think about looking to the average fan for support.  NFL players operate in a different world of luxury and previlage.  I almost want to see a lockout for the first month so that these entitled players realize how good they have it and that they may actually save some of their money instead of blowing it (see Mark Brunell).