Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Ball Throwing vs. Brain Cutting

Unlike all the other professional football players, this guy will actually produce something of worth for society. Sadly there will be no play-by-play radio coverage of his brain surgeries on AM 1500.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stupid. He can always go back and practice medicine after his contract is up and he's a millionaire. He can't go back to the NFL if he passes up this opportunity.

Anonymous said...

It would make more financial sense to play pro ball, become a millionaire, then go practice medicine. He can't do it in reverse order.

Ryan Fuller said...

Professional athletes entertain people. You like Cary Grant, right?

One of the basic principles of economics is that value is subjective.

PeppermintPanda said...

While I fully support people’s right to dislike sports, I don’t really think it is fair to be critical of athletes for not being economically productive.

Much like a concert or play a sporting event is a form of entertainment where the individual "performance" produces very little in the way of product of residual value; but there is an immediate service provided by helping people unwind and in creating a distraction for their day to day problems. Beyond this, there is a massive amount of economic activity in producing the infrastructure and products associated with a sporting event.

Now, the biggest criticism of athletes is that they’re paid an enormous amount to play a sport, which is a task that countless people would willingly do for a fraction of the cost; but you don’t hear a similar criticism for musicians. The mistake that people make is that they assume these people are paid to play the sport, when in fact they’re paid because people are willing to pay to watch them play the sport; much like a musician is paid because people are willing to pay to watch them play.

Hot Sam said...

I guess he doesn't want brain damage either.

He'll probably be working on some of his former teammates.

Not to diminish the importance of his position, but he is just a center. Centers don't make the top ten positions in average salary.

Pro football also has a salary cap. Not many centers get Gillette ads. Maybe he's being a rational economic agent.

Ryan Fuller said...

To the people who are saying that he should play in the NFL and then go on to be a neurosurgeon, that doesn't seem very likely either. Brain surgeons need to function at a very high level; NFL linemen suffer repeated blows to the head, and while we don't fully understand the complications of this, so far it's not looking too good. Even a minor level of impairment that wouldn't stop a normal person from living a normal life might be too much for a brain surgeon.

He's got two impressive options and chose the one that won't ruin him physically. Can't fault a guy for that. There's also the matter of neurosurgeons earning about half a million per year anyway, so it's not like he's choosing poverty over material comfort. Although they can end up paying a quarter million per year in malpractice insurance costs, that's another story.

Anonymous said...

This used to be the whole idea of college sports. It was to build character and a more well rounded individual. An education was supposed to be more then just the academic. The new era of million dollar sports,has changed college sports into a minor league for the professional level.
This individual looks like he is making the long term smart move. The average NFL player spends a short time in the league. A lot of former football players are left with life long physical disabilities. The use of steroids is another issue in football.This may also have been a factor in his decision not to play in the NFL.

Anonymous said...

Once you're dead, you can't go back. The average lifespan of a 3+ year NFL player is 53. It's a wise move to avoid playing in the league, especially linemen. This guy probably added 10 years to his life by not playing.

GW South said...

C'mon Captain. You know well enough value is entirely subjective and solely up the individual. If people are willing to pay $$ to watch him play, that's the value he is worth to society. Entertainment clearly has a sociatal value, as the #1 byproduct of Capitalism is increased leisure time. In which you can do things like be entertained.

Using your logic, Xbox 360 is worthless and doesn't produce any societal value. As an avid MW2 fan, I would have to disagree with you on that point as well.

CBMTTek said...

Am I the only one that read this:
""Playing in the NFL was never a dream for me, like the end-all, be-all," Hickman said. "I kind of thought if that happens, it's something I would do. As it has progressed, I’ve kind of gone in a different direction.""

The man said that NFL was never a dream, and he has gone in a different direction. Respect his decision.

What would you rather have, a NFL center that would rather be a brain surgeon, or a surgeon that would rather be a surgeon?

Anonymous said...

More power to him, although he's not the player who wants to become a neurosurgeon - that's Myron Rolle.

I'd have to agree with him about the injuries he's suffered already and not wanting more of it.