Show V 0 of az 4 IN WHAT line of professional can the athlete allete or make the most money baseball football boxing racing wrestling basketball or what have you the range tn in salaries from joe I 1 dimaggio to bob feller according to recent report was something like 65 to 85 at the same time johnny lujack was signed up tor for an I 1 amount mating 20 a year charley trip pi drew down just a about b 0 u t the same chunk of cash for 1947 football with its FELLER 20 games a season including exhibitions cant can t match baseball with its games also in eluding exhibitions there are not many ballplayers paid the same as bob feller ted williams and joe di D maggio but also there are not so many football players paid on a level with lujack and a few more even as it Is pro football can make very little money with its brief season thrown against modern in expenses expense seven even the winning teams the others can drop enough dou bloods to founder a spanish galleon on a general average baseball and football pay close to the same amounts with baseball in front the kickback is that any number of ball players get 7 or less a season stars lure crowds what about the pro golfers A hogan nelson demaret or locke can make from 25 to 30 a year but there are not many of these only a few stars most of the others are underpaid but it happens to be the stars who draw the crowds golf compares favorably with football tor for the few who must work over days a year to top 20 the average pro golfer on tour doesn doean t make 5 club golfers who are also instructors can do much better ballplayers also last longer than football players although such vet erans as sammy baugh sid luck man bulldog turner an and d mel 1 hem can hang around tor for better than 10 or 12 years they are the ables joe louis can pick up more money in one f fight ight than any base ball or player can earn in a big part of his career the louis walcott outdoor jamboree should play to at least a million dollar gate it will be an interesting fight along physical and psychological lines louis gets 40 per cent of the take this means around from which his manager takes his cut u whatever it Is in any event at least t comes to louis the only kink here Is that your uncle sam losing no time at all lops off around 75 or 80 per cent the morbid facts are that the same collector doesn doean t leave feller williams and other high priced players enough to start a bragging debate or wrestling Is steady what about the wrestlers wrest lers some active fact finder says that camera will win collect around for a year years s a activity this may be too high but wrestlers do better than many people know about it might be remembered that a it wrestler can operate five nights a week in a rush period boxing champions must settle for two or three performances a year jimmy londos told me once that he made as much as 20 a week londos was then an incredible oper ator also a very highly intelligent human being the only true answer to this sal ary matter in sport must take in the highest number who average the best pay over the years my answer here would be baseball where so many thousands are involved in so many leagues there may not be so many ruths fellers greenbergh Green bergs DL DiMagg Magglos ios or ivil wd liams barns but there are more than big leaguers who can knock off from 7 to 15 a higher average lor or a gt greater eater number pro football can almost match this payroll with the two leagues reaching tor for a rival windpipe the football players get all the money and it will be this way until two strong leagues can play at peace which reminds us we almost for got the jockeys how about eddie arcaro johnny longden and a few more all they have is around a million dollars each you know a year is no big ov overlay erlay lining up the stars it will be interesting to see which teams and which leagues sign up football footballs s leading college stars of 1947 including all bowl and postseason post season games played the seven leading backs of the year were johnny lujack lulack of notre dame bob Chap chappuis puls of michigan bobby layne of texas ray evans of kansas charley con beriy of mississippi doak walker of 3 M V U and harry gilmer of alabama |