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The Washington Post published an interesting story comparing the salaries of NFL and MLB players, and they had a perfect pair to work with: Detroit’s Calvin Johnson, and Jeff Samardzija of the San Francisco Giants.
Once upon a time (2006) Megatron and Samardzija were All-American receivers at Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, respectively.
In 2007, Johnson was drafted by the Detroit Lions of the NFL. Samardzija passed on the NFL for baseball, and signed with the Chicago Cubs.
Johnson, 30, is contemplating retirement after nine seasons. The superstar receiver, and sure-fire Hall of Famer, is concerned about the physical toll the game has taken on his body.
Meanwhile, Samardzija, 30, has not enjoyed nearly the success in baseball as Megatron has in football. Samardzija has been pretty much a journeyman pitcher.
However, Samardzija has actually made more money being an average baseball player, than Johnson has being a football superstar, and his body has taken a far less toll.
Johnson’s career earnings of $113 million falls short of Samardzija’s $122 million. Not only that, Samardzija should be in line to sign maybe a couple of more contracts before he retires. It is no big deal at all for a pitcher to play into his 40s. Samardzija’s earnings actually eclipse the earnings of three NFL receivers combined (see graph at the bottom of the story).
The lesson? If you have a youngster who is interested in sports. Go by him a ball and glove, immediately.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antwann Randle El recently admitted that he wished he had taken the baseball route.
“If I could go back, I wouldn’t,” said Randle, in thePittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I would play baseball. I got drafted by the Cubs in the 14th round, but I didn’t play baseball because of my parents.
“They made me go to school. Don’t get me wrong, I love the game of football. But, right now, I could still be playing baseball.
Like several former players, including Hall of Famers Brett Favre and Tony Dorsett, Randle El has memory loss issues.
“I ask my wife things over and over again, and she’s like, ‘I just told you that,’ ” said Randle El. “I’ll ask her three times the night before and get up in the morning and forget. Stuff like that. I try to chalk it up as I’m busy, I’m doing a lot, but I have to be on my knees praying about it, asking God to allow me to not have these issues and live a long life. I want to see my kids raised up. I want to see my grandkids.” ( Here is the Poststory)
