Pro athletes will be back on the job, but is it really work?

As the nation continues to confront a deadly pandemic, a flagging economy, and difficult discussions about social justice, the world of professional sports is stepping in to offer a brief respite from our woes. At the time of this writing, the Minnesota Twins and Major League Baseball (MLB) will begin the 2020 season in a few days, pro hockey and basketball will return soon, and the National Football League is making final preparations for teams to go to training camp.

Despite some misgivings about safety amidst the coronavirus, most athletes seem happy about returning. They often talk, however, about “getting back to work” and just wanting to “do their jobs,” which makes us wonder if they have a good handle on what life is really like in the working world. So, following is an examination of a few ways in which a professional athlete’s job might seem more desirable than the ordinary 9-to-5 working world, as well as a couple of examples of where the rest of us actually have it better than they do.

The good

Here are a few reasons why we look at professional sports and say “nice work if you can get it”:

Money for games. Let’s start with the obvious: Male professional athletes in the “major sports” earn enormous sums of money just playing a game. Not all of them earn the amazing salaries we read about in the news reports, but many do, and all of them have the potential.