In this day and age, many families are struggling to make ends meet. I make $7.75 an hour as a cashier at a grocery store. I stock shelves, assist customers, operate a register, push in carts and help to keep the store clean.  I find this wage tolerable as I only work to make enough money to pay for gas to and from school, but some people make a living off of this hourly wage.

Meanwhile, professional athletes are making headlines trying to add another zero to the end of their paycheck because they don’t feel as if they are being properly compensated for their work. This makes me irate as many blue collar workers are putting in numerous hours of overtime and laboring in order to make an extra 25 cents an hour to feed their families.

These workers will labor endlessly for numerous years to make only a fraction of what an athlete may make in a year. According to Forbes, football icon Peyton Manning currently has a $96 million contract with the Denver Broncos with over $12 million in endorsements. The average man can not even dream of making even the equivalent of Manning’s endorsement deals.

I truthfully do not believe that any athlete needs $96 million, regardless of the work that he or she puts in. The work that athletes do just does not surpass the work of the average man. Being an athlete simply does not require the schooling and need for educational background that nearly every other high paying profession does. Doctors endure over 11 years of schooling and, according to Time magazine, make merely $156,000. They make considerably less than an athlete, yet they spend their days saving lives and helping people. According to the White House web site, The president only makes $400,000 to run an entire nation. So why should Manning make millions to throw a football?

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that professional athletes deserve considerable compensation for their work. I do not intend to undermine the hard work that they do in order to play at an elite level, but the amount that most athletes are making is outrageous.

Professional athletes need to take a step back and realize just how blessed that they are. They are making millions of dollars a year to play a sport that they love. Not many people can honestly say that they get paid that much to do something that they truly enjoy. Some people work jobs that they despise just so they can make just enough to support their family. Instead of asking for more zeros on their paycheck, they should be thankful for all that they already have.