Let me give you a moment to wrap your head around the fact: ONE DINNER cost this rookie twenty grand more than the average salary in America. One meal. One. If the entire roster of players showed up, all 53 of them, the nearly $55,000 price tag of the dinner means that each player had approximately $1000 worth of food and services.
Bryant got over $8 million in guaranteed money. He can afford it. But was this prank by Williams the right thing to do at time when most Americans can't afford to go watch these millionaires play a game for a living? During these tough economic times, was it a good idea to flaunt just how far above the people of Dallas these players are in terms of money made?
The question also arises: was that the total bill, or the bill before gratuity? If he paid a 20% tip (likely more) on having such a large group at a single restaurant, then the bill goes upwards of $66,000. If that amount includes the tip, then we're still talking a $44,000 meal. Supposedly, some players were walking out with $600 bottles of wine. Some reports have players ordering multiple meals, charging them to Bryant, and then not eating them.
The thought of this prank makes me sick to my stomach. The audacity of these players doing this is a spit in the face of every hard-working person trying to keep making ends meet in this tough economy.
If anything shows the disconnect between these athletes and the world around them, this does.
ADDENDUM: This per Peter King, my favorite football insider, in his Monday Morning QB column:
This is the primary reason that we need to have some control/limits over the salaries athletes earn. Many of these men/women are too young to make good financial decisions, so they do stupid things such as this outrageous "dinner" to teach a rookie a lesson.
ReplyDeleteHad they simply donated the money to charity or asked families in off the streets to eat the meal, I would not be as outraged as I am at the news article.
This country has a blind eye to all pro sports salaries. I hear people saying how fantastic it is that kids who grew up with nothing can end up a millionaire. I guess they forget how many of them go SO bad so quickly.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the posting- it sickens me too!