Comparing Professional Athletes To 9-5 Employees Is Asinine

We are in the peak of the NFL offseason, which can only mean one thing: contract talks!

There have been a few high-profile stories on either end of the contract spectrum this week, with former Mr. Irrelevant and current San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy inking a brand-spanking new $265 million contract while the Cincinnati Bengals and pass rusher Trey Hendrickson struggle with extension talks.

Without a lot to talk about in the form of actual football being played, every move in the offseason gets dissected down to the last molecule.

This includes things like trades, contract disputes, and holdouts.

All of these will also inevitably lead to hot-take artists emerging from the depths of the internet on either side of the aisle.

Whenever a professional athlete has a contract dispute, most people will fall into one of two camps: Said player is a bum and doesn't know what loyalty means, or professional sports are a business and the player has to do what's right for them, their career, and their family.

And you know what? They're both right.

The sentiment that I simply can't get behind is, "You can't be mad at the player. If someone offered you twice your salary, and you jumped ship from your current job, no one would get mad at you."

No shit, Sherlock.

We have to stop comparing professional athletes squabbling over an extra 7% raise in their salaries to everyday employees struggling at a 9-5 job; it's an incredibly bad-faith comparison.

Since when do millions of people root for their favorite CPA at their hometown accounting firm or spend hundreds on jerseys and apparel to rep their local insurance agent that made it big?

Sports fandom is a unique beast that can't be compared to religiously following some guy making $60,000 a year as the manager of a Foot Locker.

I'm so sick and tired of this asinine rhetoric, and I hear it all the time whenever contract talks come up.

Morons.

The "average American" isn't making millions of dollars playing a game they grew up loving. Most of them are working menial, soul-crushing jobs to afford food for their families or one of your jerseys for their kids that look up to you.

The gatekeeping from some of these jock-sniffers on social media that occurs anytime a working-class fan complains about their favorite spoiled athlete walking out on their lifelong team for a few extra millions is enough to make me want to fling my phone off a bridge.

This phenomenon of greed isn't just contained to professional sports anymore either, thanks to the advent of NIL and the transfer portal.

I grew up a diehard Florida Gator fan, so when some strong safety decides to bolt to a rival school for an extra $100k, I have every right to be pissed, be it rational or irrational.

The word "fan" is short for "fanatic," anyway.

I'm not saying athletes don't deserve the money they're making, nor am I saying they can't do right by themselves.

I'm only saying we're also allowed to be angry without anonymous internet accounts defending millionaire athletes for spurning our hometown clubs.

After all, it's that insane fandom that has turned the NFL, among other leagues, into a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Oh well, happy offseason. Only 110 more days until kickoff!