Rhetorical Analysis: Athletes Make A Lot Of Money

In his 2011 article “The Shame of College Sports”, Taylor Branch claims college sports are corrupt because college athletes are not paid. Through the use of ethos, logos, and an accusatory tone in the article “Should College Athletes be Paid? Why, They Already Are” written for Sports Illustrated in 2014, Seth Davis effectively argues why Taylor Branch’s claim is incorrect. Davis’ use of ethos addresses Branch’s credibility. Through his use of logos, Davis effectively points out why Branch’s argument is illogical. Finally, Davis’ accusatory tone asserts his opinion of Branch’s writing, exposing why Branch’s article is flawed. All of Davis’ rhetorical strategies are able to successfully convince the Sports Illustrated readers Branch’s argument is incorrect.

College sports is one of the best-known entertainments around the world. But for the athletes, they are students first then athletes second. For college student-athletes, there are a variety of scholarships and grants to help pay for college or college debt. However, some critics say that student-athletes should be paid a salary like pro athletes would, with help from scholarships or grants. The authors of, College Athletes are being Educated, not Exploited, Val Ackerman and Larry Scott, argue that student-athletes are already paid by free education and other necessities. With this article having a very strong analysis evidence such as the appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos. I agree that this article is very effective. Throughout this essay, I will analyze the article through its context of rhetorical analysis and evaluation of argument claims, and logos, pathos, and ethos.

Due to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules and regulations no college athlete is allowed to receive any compensation or endorsement while participating in college athletics. It is very problematic rules and many people and professional do not agree with these rules. Despite all the researches that suggested that NCAA the Universities makes multimillions dollars a year from college’s sport, the NCAA still insisting on applying the rule that no college athletes should be compensated about their effort and time. We as students, professors, and parents we need to demand that NCAA changes their unfair rules and compensates the students athletes for their

Most people think that athletes are overpaid and see huge contracts come out every year. It’s not everyday that an athlete wakes up to a 20 million dollar contract. In fact, they actually worked for it over many years of training and dedication.

Since the athletes spend their money in one sitting they don’t have any money left to pay the contract they wind up in debt. Critics argue that the athletes are paid fairly but I argue that that without experience with this much money that they make have questionable financial decisions. It is easy to think that the athletes know how to handle this amount of money but when you look at the facts with all this money the athletes will have long term financial and social consequences many athletes will face with their enormous paycheck. Since most athletes have reasonable paychecks but wind up spending their money within 24 hours. They should spend more time making a plan instead of spending their cash on real estate and expensive

Athletes are paid more than very important jobs such as surgeons, teachers, and even the president! Athletes don’t even do very important things, they merely entertain fans in an arena. Do they save lives, educate our future, or run our country? No, they don’t. Finally, an athlete's salary is more than an average American household makes in a whole decade. There could be a policeman with an entire family, and an athlete will make more than them in one paycheck, while that family is making significantly less in 10 years. These reasons prove that more important jobs deserve to get paid more than athletes.

Imagine doing hard labor every day without getting paid. Imagine not being able to recover fully from a traumatic injury and being overcome with medical bills. This happened to many athletes, but one that stands out is Inky Johnson. Inky Johnson was a star football player for Tennessee. He was guaranteed to be in the top thirty of the NFL draft pick in 2006. He only had ten football games left, until his dreams came true. But, Inky’s whole life changed in a different way when playing against the Air Force. Inky tackled a player and tore all the nerves in his brachial plexus, causing surgeries and his right arm to be paralyzed. He could never play football again and instead had to live a more challenging life. This is just one example of how players put their lives at risk for the games they love so much. College athletes deserve to be paid for their dedication to sports. There has been huge controversy over this and it is considered to be one of the most debatable topics in sports. Inequality in sports has been shown in many ways. This includes women inequity, racial inequality, and coaches being paid more depending on what sport they coach. College athletes should be compensated for their work and be given rights.

Professional athletes have a tremendous influence on youth and society, largely because almost everyone looks up to them from toddlers to senior citizens, but in one way or another; everyone is influenced by professional athletes. Some think that athletes should be able to live their lives however they please, not worrying about how their actions may affect other people; however, it is important for athletes to understand that many people are watching them and that their actions do have large impacts on society. Professional athletes’ image affects today’s society and youth because they influence drug use, attitude on and off the field, and contribution to the community.

Why do colleges think that they can get millions of dollars off of college athletes and not give money back to them for earning it all? Michael Rosenberg, Laura Pappano, and Joe Posnanski were three out of the four authors that I read about that shared their views on college athletes getting paid or not in their articles. Between all of these three writers i noticed they all mentioned how much money colleges receive from just ticket sales. Joe Posnanski and Michael Rosenberg both agree that college athletes should get paid, Laura Pappano on the other hand was more focused on the money that the colleges are receiving from just ticket sales, booster donations, and cable deals. She also expresses her concern on how every time the basketball and football team win three games in a row , the GPA of the players goes down by 0.3. Meaning that

Have you ever thought about about how much time and effort college athletes put into their sport? They spend the majority of their four years in college training for a certain sport. All the time and effort the athletes put in yet they do not receive a penny. Most of these young men and women have moved out of their parents house and have to fend for themselves. College athletes should be paid because college athletes put up the same injury risks as professional athletes, the players bring in money, it could increase motivation for education, and the sport acts as a full time job.

The topic, pro athletes are/are not getting paid too much, is a heated argument between people. Have you ever thought about it? Well, an answer that I’m sure would be agreed with is that national athletes are paid way too much money. Some people might say that they deserve what they get, but there really isn’t any supportive reasons for that. People know that doctors and firefighters save lives, while athletes play a game to make money. Even teachers pay isn’t anywhere near to athletes; they educate the generation’s youth so they can make a difference in the future. So many jobs that are very important don’t get paid as much and that money can go towards better causes. But these are only some of the reasons that pro athletes get paid too much.

In K.C. Johnson’s article, “Criticism Doesn’t Deter Rose,” Johnson uses the testimony of Derrick Rose to discuss his opinion on whether the public is holding professional athletes to unrealistic standards, specifically when it comes to dealing with injuries. Derrick Rose, a point guard for the Chicago Bulls, has been dealing with public scrutiny ever since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in 2012 and refusing to play the following season (par. 5). Rose reasons that the fan base did not understand the long term health implications associated with playing injured and that by sitting out, he was protecting himself from a potential career-ending injury (par. 3). His testimonial relies on the support of team doctors and other star player to support his claims. These experts as well as the testimonies of star players, like Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony, establish the author’s credibility. In his article, Johnson agrees with Rose and uses many logical appeals to make the audience feel that expecting athletes to risk their livelihoods for our entertainment is wrong.

Young athlete’s main goal to attain is to become a professional athlete. Plenty wants to become a professional athlete due to the money, others for the love of the particular sport that they are interested in. There is a downside in becoming a professional athlete, that many young players are not aware of. This downside is that professional athletes’ go broke faster than they are drafted into the leagues. Many professional players such as NBA and NFL players go broke due to career duration, overspending, family issues, and lack of financial knowledge.

The topic, pro athletes are/are not paid too much, is a heated argument between people. Have you ever thought about it? Well, an answer that I’m sure would be agreed with is that national athletes are paid way too much money. Some people might say that they deserve what they get, but there really isn’t any supportive reasons for that. People know that doctors and firefighters save lives, while athletes play a game to make money. Even teachers don’t get paid as much; they educate the generation’s youth so they can make a difference in the future. So many jobs that are very important don’t get paid as much and that money can go towards better causes. But these are only some of the reasons that pro athletes get paid too much.

Sports journalism is an essential element of any news media organization. While the sports department within some newspapers has been mockingly called the toy department, because sports journalists do not concern themselves with the 'serious' topics covered by the news desk, sports coverage has grown in importance as sport has grown in wealth, power, and influence.