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Comment by gph | Hacker News Reader

>NFL players are some of the highest-paid in any profession in the world, most of which could rent a limo for the entirety of the night whenever they go out and it wouldn't be a drop in the bucket against their earnings. But, they don't...

Well to be fair, a lot of players in the NFL only make it in the league for a few years if they are lucky and make closer to the league minimum. I would think a lot of software developers stand to make more money over their careers than some of these guys do.

That's to say, not everyone playing in the NFL right now stands to retire with millions of dollars in the bank, especially if they have the mentality of renting a limo everytime they go out.

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http://www.steelersdepot.com/2011/07/2011-2014-nfl-minimum-b...

League minimum this year is $405,000. I think they can afford a cab on that wage.

What isn't considered is the thousands of players on farm teams that make 80k. However, they're generally not the ones ending up in the news (nor the ones that this benefit covers).

> What isn't considered is the thousands of players on farm teams that make 80k.

The NFL has no farm system:

> The National Football League, as of 2010, is the only one of the four major professional sports in the USA that does not have a farm system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm_team#American_Football

not only doesn't the NFL have farm team, sports that do, don't typically pay 80K

http://www.bucsdugout.com/2013/1/14/3874488/minor-league-bas...

CFL/AAFL are definitely farm team systems; despite not being 'formal' farm teams, that is basically what they are.

How often do you any player start out in the CFL/AAFL and go on to become starters in the NFL. There is a handful who fall into the "undiscovered talent" category and that's it.

They are far from being a developmental league where players hone skills with the hopes of "being called up to the big leagues", like what baseball, hockey, and to a lesser extent basketball do.

>I think they can afford a cab on that wage.

Sure, most anyone making a decent salary can afford a cab in most cities.

I was just pointing out that the caricaturization of all NFL players as multi-millionaires who could afford to rent limos every time they went out is unfair and not really true for the majority of them.

Does this mean if you are drafted to an NFL team your expected (minimum) earnings would be $1.62M?

My understanding is the median household income in the US is approx. $50,000 - about 32 years' worth of work to equal the (minimum) earnings of an NFL draftee.

They're hardly struggling, even if the contract isn't renewed and they have to find another job.

I'm pretty sure most of the players don't worry about that until the cash stops rolling in...

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