If you could be elite at one professional sport, which would you choose?

[Q]

A kicker in the NFL that can nail 80 yard field goals.

I've thought of that before, no kidding. Would be amazing.

 

[a123456]

Are we talking elite as in GOAT elite or just like top 10 or top 20? >Tiger in his prime vs Luke Donald or >MJ in his prime vs Steve Nash or something.

If it's just top 20, then I think I'd go with money and taking it easy in golf. While being elite like Nash is cool, it's not really worth it for me because it's so much extra work compared to playing a tourney every 2 weeks and bringing home ~5M/year for 30+ years.

If we're talking better than MJ elite, then I'd probably go basketball for the passion and the "coolness" factor. The money might not be 500M Tiger good but MJ still made ~50M/year so that's not bad.

Soccer is terrible for the money. The highest paid player is only 16M? I think the other top tier guys like Rooney only get paid ~8-10M pure salary. Freaking David Lee and CJ Wilson make more than Messi almost and Messi is all-time great so far.

NFL is pretty bad. Probably lots of hidden concussions and other injuries. Tons of pain on retirement and they get paid like crap for the most part with the hard cap. See Matt Forte.

Edit: Kicking 80y FG would definitely be awesome, but kicker seems low reward, high-risk. People like that Adam Vinitari(?) guy but everyone remembers Tom Brady much more. Then, everyone remembers Scott Norwood forever. You're kind of expected to make FGs and if you miss, everyone blames you.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

I've thought of that before, no kidding. Would be amazing.

Get a huge salary for sitting on your arse most of the time. I think they would splash out cash for someone who can kick a ball that far. Sudden death. Opponents kick off. Kicking team comes on. Game Over

 

[edro]

Golf. You can pick your tournaments and play as you choose.

Tennis is very tough because you play almost everyday.

 

[boomhower]

F1

$30mil+ a year. Work ~20 weekends plus a few for testing, appearances, etc. Downsides are the risk of injury/death but comparatively speaking tons better than football but a ton worse than about everything else. I'm a gesrhead so it's a tradeoff I'd take.

 

[Chaotic42]

Football. It was always my dream.

MotionMan

Same.

 

[sandorski]

Hockey

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Ice or gay hockey?

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I'm shocked that no one has said Anandtech Forums. That title under my name would mean the world to me.

 

[sandorski]

Ice or gay hockey?

Hockey, there is only one True Hockey.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Hockey, there is only one True Hockey.

whats the one with the ball and the astro turf then?

 

[sandorski]

whats the one with the ball and the astro turf then?

A sad Wannabe.

 

[alkemyst]

if I had to be elite, I'd pick the one with least amount of potential bad retirement/early death.

I'd do golf and fucking profit.

Most here would hate me more.

 

[Sureshot324]

Basketball since it's my favorite sport, although the downside is you have work out extremely hard, unless you're born with a body like Shaq.

 

[Gibsons]

Edit: Kicking 80y FG would definitely be awesome, but kicker seems low reward, high-risk. People like that Adam Vinitari(?) guy but everyone remembers Tom Brady much more. Then, everyone remembers Scott Norwood forever. You're kind of expected to make FGs and if you miss, everyone blames you.

Risk of injury is very very low. You don't wake up sore all over on Monday. Say whatever about Vinatieri, but he's healthy and rich.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

A sad Wannabe.

but its normally played by skirts without protection. how can it be a wannabe. You sure your not thinking about street or roller hockey?

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Are we talking elite as in GOAT elite or just like top 10 or top 20? >Tiger in his prime vs Luke Donald or >MJ in his prime vs Steve Nash or something.

If it's just top 20, then I think I'd go with money and taking it easy in golf. While being elite like Nash is cool, it's not really worth it for me because it's so much extra work compared to playing a tourney every 2 weeks and bringing home ~5M/year for 30+ years.

If we're talking better than MJ elite, then I'd probably go basketball for the passion and the "coolness" factor. The money might not be 500M Tiger good but MJ still made ~50M/year so that's not bad.

Soccer is terrible for the money. The highest paid player is only 16M? I think the other top tier guys like Rooney only get paid ~8-10M pure salary. Freaking David Lee and CJ Wilson make more than Messi almost and Messi is all-time great so far.

NFL is pretty bad. Probably lots of hidden concussions and other injuries. Tons of pain on retirement and they get paid like crap for the most part with the hard cap. See Matt Forte.

Edit: Kicking 80y FG would definitely be awesome, but kicker seems low reward, high-risk. People like that Adam Vinitari(?) guy but everyone remembers Tom Brady much more. Then, everyone remembers Scott Norwood forever. You're kind of expected to make FGs and if you miss, everyone blames you.

If your good enough then you wont miss. how hard can it be? middle of the field everytime. Dan Carter will kick those with his eyes closed 100 out of a 100 times

 

[vi edit]

If your good enough then you wont miss. how hard can it be? middle of the field everytime. Dan Carter will kick those with his eyes closed 100 out of a 100 times

Bad snap, bad hold, it get's blocked, wind carries it...ect. Plenty of things can go wrong without even factoring in the kicker.

 

[Engineer]

This is what is wrong with sport today

No. 1: Tiger Woods
Sport: golf
May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $75 million
Net Worth: $500 million – As of September 2010, according to Forbes
Age: 35

No. 2: Kobe Bryant
Sport: basketball
May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $53 million
Net Worth: $140 million – As of May 2009, according to Forbes
Age: 32

No. 3: LeBron James
Sport: basketball
May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $48 million
Age: 26

No. 4: Roger Federer
Sport: tennis
May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $47 million
Age: 29

No. 5: Phil Mickelson

Sport: golf

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $46.5 million

Age: 40

Earned a deal as a spokesman for Amgen and Pfizer, makers of Enbrel.
No. 6: David Beckham

Sport: Football

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $40 million

Net Worth: £135 million or $219m – As of May 2011, according to Sunday Times Rich List

Age: 36

Beckham served as an ambassador during London’s 2012 Olympic Games bid process, in May 2011 he signed awith Samsung to become the company’s global brand ambassador for the Games.
No. 7: Cristiano Ronaldo

Sport: Football

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $38 million

Age: 26

Using social media to expand his brand. With 26 million Facebook fans, twice as many as any other athlete and 3 million Twitter followers.
No. 8:Alex Rodriguez

Sport: Baseball

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $35 million

Age: 35
No. 9: Michael Schumacher

Sport: Racing

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $34 million

Age: 42

Return to Formula 1 racing in 2010 did not go as planned as he finished a disappointing ninth in the overall standings but his earnings are boosted by a strong endorsement portfolio that includes DVAG, Jet Set, Navy Boot, Audemars Piguet, Schuberth and Rosbacher.
No. 10: Lionel Messi

Sport: Football

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $32.3 million

Age: 23

With annual salary of $16 million, the Argentina pro footballer has recently built up his endorsement portfolio, which now includes Adidas, PepsiCo, Konami, Audemars Piguet, Chery and AirEuropa.
No. 11: Fernando Alonso

Sport: Racing

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $32 million

Age: 29

Alonso has the highest salary of any F1 driver, and finished second to Sebastian Vettel in last year’s championship standings. In May Alonso extended his driving contract with Ferrari through 2016.
No. 12:Rafael Nadal

Sport: Tennis

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $31.5 million

Age: 24

Nadal earned $10.5 million in prize money over the last 12 months.
No. 13 (tie) Tom Brady

Sport: football (NFL)

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $31 million

Age: 33

The two-time league MVP signed a $72 million 4 year contract extension in September 2010 with the Patriots making it NFL’s richest deal on an annual basis.
No. 13 (tie) Valentino Rossi

Sport: Racing

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $31 million

Age: 32
No. 15: Lewis Hamilton

Sport: Racing

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $30 million

Net Worth: £50 million or $82m – As of May 2011, according to Sunday Times Rich List

Age: 26

Have a deal with Reebok that is worth $4 million annually, but most of his promotional rights are controlled by his race team, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.
No. 16: Derek Jeter

Sport: Baseball

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $29 million

Age: 36
No. 17: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Sport: Racing

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $28.5 million

Age: 36
No. 18: Yao Ming

Sport: Basketball

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $27.7 million

Age: 30
No. 19 Dwight Howard

Sport: Basketball

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $27.6 million

Age: 25
No. 20: Dwyane Wade

Sport: Basketball

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $26.2 million

Age: 29

Wade made $14.2 million during the 2010-11 season, $300,000 less than his new teammates, after accepting to take a reduced salary to accommodate Chris Bosh and LeBron James under the NBA’s salary cap.
No. 21 Peyton Manning

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $26.1 million

Sport: Football (NFL) , Age: 35
No. 22 Ichiro Suzuki

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $26 million

Sport: Baseball , Age: 37
No. 23 Carmelo Anthony

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $25.1 million

Sport: Basketball , Age: 26
No. 24 (tie) Kaka

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $25 million

Sport: Football , Age: 29
No. 24 (tie) Manny Pacquaio

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $25 million

Sport: Boxing , Age: 32
No. 26 Jeff Gordon

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $24.9 million

Sport: Racing , Age: 39

No. 27 Ronaldinho

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $24.7 million

Sport: Football , Age: 31

No. 28 Amar’e Stoudemire

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $24.5 million

Sport: Basketball , Age: 28
No. 29 Maria Sharapova

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $24.2 million

Sport: Tennis, Age: 24

No. 30 Wayne Rooney

May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings: $24.1 million

Sport: Football , Age: 25

Apart from the sport where you play for yourself theres a lot of overpaid useless ones. David Beckham earns more than Messi. Messi helped his team won how many trophies?
Take note employers of No 2 and 3 on that list

60% of NBA players are broke within 5 years of leaving and 78% of NFL players are broke/in trouble within 2 years of leaving!

With that said, I wouldn't mind sitting on an NBA bench for a year or two. I guarantee that I would retire and live for the rest of my life on the earnings (assuming a NET of one million or more on top of what I currently have).

 

[Fingolfin269]

Golf

 

[sandorski]

60% of NBA players are broke within 5 years of leaving and 78% of NFL players are broke/in trouble within 2 years of leaving!

With that said, I wouldn't mind sitting on an NBA bench for a year or two. I guarantee that I would retire and live for the rest of my life on the earnings (assuming a NET of one million or more on top of what I currently have).

Damn.

 

[a123456]

Risk of injury is very very low. You don't wake up sore all over on Monday. Say whatever about Vinatieri, but he's healthy and rich.

http://content.usatoday.com/sportsdata/football/nfl/salaries/player/Adam-Vinatieri

He's probably going to make ~20M +/- over the course of his career. The contract he signed is probably going to be his last meaningful once since he'll be 41.

Obviously, he's better off than 95% of the other football players out there but I doubt he gets any extra side income from sponsors. Without the extra fame, to me, golf seems like the better option, if nothing else, because of the longer possible career span if you feel like it.

That said, a career path of a really good kicker like that is definitely nice and up there near the top of little work and relatively high reward.

With that said, I wouldn't mind sitting on an NBA bench for a year or two. I guarantee that I would retire and live for the rest of my life on the earnings (assuming a NET of one million or more on top of what I currently have).

Minimum wage in the NBA is huge. It starts at 500k for rookies but goes up to 1M for vets. Total bench guys can rake even more with some luck, like Luke Walton for 5M/year.

 

[zinfamous]

F1

$30mil+ a year. Work ~20 weekends plus a few for testing, appearances, etc. Downsides are the risk of injury/death but comparatively speaking tons better than football but a ton worse than about everything else. I'm a gesrhead so it's a tradeoff I'd take.

 

[shortylickens]

Lingerie Football League booty inspector.

 

[JackBurton]

Does boxing announcer count (Michael Buffer)? That has GOT to be the best sports job. Go out there for a few minutes, announce the fighters, watch them beat each other up, and then collect your millions. It just doesn't get any better than that.

WTF?!