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Are football players paid too much? Are you kidding me? This is still America right? This is still the land of the free and home of the brave, and home of the world's greatest free market economy, right? That being the case, a football player is paid "exactly" what he is worth to a team and not a penny more.

Now, I am not saying that all owners or general managers make the wisest investment with their money. Teams have been known to gamble on free agents that are injured prone, rookies that are unproven, and players with severe character issues. But there is one overriding principal here, and that is, it's the team's money. How they wish to spend it is their business. If owners want to gamble with the future of their franchise, the future of the NFL, or the goodwill of the fans, when signing a player to a ridiculous amount of money, that is their business.

That aside, who is to say what is "too much money?" A player's career is short, (the average NFL career is 3.9 years), contracts are seldom guaranteed, and the life expectancy of a player is drastically decreased. What price can you put on a decreased life span? Is there a price? What price can you put on an increased chance of getting dementia and Alzheimer's from too many hits to the head? Right now studies have shown that former NFL players have a higher risk of both of these illnesses.

I will go a step further and state that in a free market economy the idea that someone is "paid too much" for their chosen profession, is a notion born out of envy and subjected to an "entitlement mentality" that is all too prevalent (and wrong) in today's society. By show of hands, how many people would turn down NFL type dollars for the job they currently do? Anyone? Nope? Really? I wonder why that is? Is it because when a person finds himself on the other side of a windfall there is always room for justification? Ah, I see. The answer to the question really depends on what side of the windfall you find yourself on. Well, that is one heck of a slippery slope from which to pass moral judgment on football players and the salary they command.

By the way, of those who still feel that players earn too much, how many of you still financially support the NFL with your patronage to games and merchandising? Oh, a lot of you still do? Well then, shame on you, you are contributing to the "problem" that you claim there is to begin with. I would call that a bit of a moral dilemma, wouldn't you?

Learn more about this author, Rolando Cruz.
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