Super suit agent Allan Walsh is at it again, complaining about those poor professional athletes in a league where the minimum salary is $450,000. While I agree that Tennesee’s “privilege tax” unfairly targets NHL and NBA players, my sympathy goes out the window when he starts painting these guys as victims because they are a split-second away from a career-ending injury. Especially when he tries justifying it by spreading the average pay of an average career length as if four years in the NHL is all these guys are worth to the world.
Nobody forces these kids to leave college early or completely side-step it to jump into the NHL. The allure of money can be enticing, but some these guys need to look at the bigger picture.
Maybe this is why I respect players like Adam Burish and George Parros so much. Burish will never command the multi-million-dollar contract that the superstars can, but he plays his heart out every time he’s on the ice. He won a national championship as the captain of the University of Wisconsin Badgers, and graduated with a degree in finance. When he was sidelined after ACL surgery earlier this season, he didn’t sit and mope, he diversified and tried out his broadcasting chops as an analyst with the Big 10 Sports Network. Parros is known around the NHL as a tough guy, but how many people know he’s an ivy-league graduate?
Walsh needs to stop painting these athletes as victims. They might be getting the short end of the stick on this situation in Tennessee — which seems like it might be rectified as the outrage picks up steam — but claiming that their only worth is the productive years they give the NHL proves that Walsh is nothing more than an empty suit chasing after the almighty dollar.
