The Drubbing

Wine 'em dine 'em 69 'em

With the state of the current economy on the fritz, i recently started thinking about job security.  Then i started watching Monday Night Football.  And then, i pondered who had hotter cheerleaders, the Cowboys or the Buccaneers.

Then i realized it didn’t matter, they were all hot.  So i got to thinking, who has a shorter career, professional sports cheerleaders or NFL running backs.

Now i realized that NFL players have a short career, but i did not realize how short of a career it is – 3 and a half seasons.  What is even more amazing is that running backs have an even shorter shelf life – just over 2 and a half years.  Considering each team carries probably 3 running backs on their active roster, that makes this a highly specialized and very competitive position.  Each year younger, stronger, faster, healthier players are drafted by NFL teams to replace aging veterans who have lost a step.  Throw in the fact that NFL running backs take the brunt of the hard hitting during games, both head on and from behind where dangerous knee injuries can occur suddenly, and RB’s hit retirement from football at a very young age.

Tampa Bay is a magical place

Professional cheerleaders, as best as i can tell from my online research, have a professional career of just over 5 years.  That is not a long time, but it is twice as long as an NFL running back.  Cheerleaders make minimum wage, and like an NFL player, is made up up young twenty something “athletes” with youngsters, just out of college every year trying to beat them out for a spot on the team.  Did you know, that each year NFL players were chosen to the Pro Bowl? i bet you did.  But what i bet you didn’t know is one cheerleader from each NFL team is chosen to be on the All Pro squad at the game, and this is considered one of the highest honors for a cheerleader.

While NFL running backs have a career half as long as cheerleaders, their minimum salary, while not always guaranteed, (but most of the time does include a signing bonus and/or guaranteed money),  allows them to make this a full time job until the time that they retire or are cut.  Cheerleaders however, mostly make minimum wage, and have other part time jobs on the side.   NFL players, running backs especially, typically have chronic issues later on in life.  Ever see an older football player walk around? it is not a pretty sight.  Ever see an older cheerleader?  In certain states they have to be 20ft away but most of the time you can still get a nice “conversation” for about $20.