The NFL Draft: Money Takes Center Stage

New York's Radio City Music Hall will be an intense place the weekend of April 28^th. No, the Rockettes will not be kicking up a storm on stage, but rather the famed site will be hosting the NFL draft, the weekend in which all that is greedy about professional football becomes far too apparent.

In the weeks - no, months - leading up to the big event, sports fans have indulged in experts' mock draft projections and the combine horror stories that can shove a former top pick down the ladder to Round 2. We'd like to think that college athletes are in it for love of the game; but every spring, we get a reality check. While their classmates are suiting up for entry level job interviews or taking their GREs, elite college athletes are vying for paychecks larger than what most people will earn in a lifetime.

A recent news story joked about an accounting error that gave Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook an extra $3 million on his paycheck. Oops. I think back to that first minimum wage job when I was gypped out of $7, and suddenly the Westbrook anecdote loses its humor. The money that professional athletes accumulate is astounding.

Westbrook and other starters earn the top dollars, but the backup players are from destitute. I admire them for their commitment to the sport despite their secondary position, and yet I sigh audibly when I learn that they, too, earn exorbitant amounts of money. While I am certain that these athletes work hard to earn their positions, they may never actually play under the spotlight of a tight game. It certainly pays to back up Colts star Peyton Manning; back-up quarterback Jim Sorgi will pull in a nice $850,000 next year. Simply browsing the headlines on ESPN's website or any printed sports page will reveal the ongoing contract negotiations, signing bonuses, and salary cap issues that often overshadow the actual sport.

I recall the likes of Ryan Leaf and Tim Couch, former top draft picks awarded hefty salaries only to under perform, and in the case of Leaf, set new lows for athlete behavior. A few years ago, they were the cover boys touted to resurrect faltering NFL teams. I look at current top prospects like Brady Quinn and JaMarcus Russell and they seem like nice enough guys - well spoken with the media, confident, talented. I hope that they sidestep the temptations and ego-inducing salaries that inevitably will accompany their celebrity.

When it all comes down to it, I prefer Saturday games to the hyped up slickness of Sunday football. Even if a college player has the chops to make millions in another year or two, I enjoy watching him play while the money is still out of reach. He still has to go to class - even if that class is, say, ballroom dancing - and he still has to live in a cramped dormroom and sweat out finals like any other college kid. The topic of greed and money in college football could constitute a lengthy discussion all by itself, but the sound of students, alums, and a marching band cheering its team toward victory drowns out the bitterness.