This Tuesday Top 10 List was inspired by two great weekend athletic events: Wimbledon and Nathan’s Famous Hotdog Eating Contest. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut defended his world gluttony title by swallowing 68 hotdogs in 10 minutes, and Andy Roddick almost beat Roger Fed in the Wimbledon finals. Almost beating Roger is about as good as it gets unless you are a Spanish lefty with freakish topspin.
While I was thinking about my new American sports heroes, Joey and Andy, I stumbled on Sports Illustrated’s latest ranking of the highest-paid non-American athletes and the Sports Illustrated highest-paid American athletes.
So, here they are, some of the highest-paid people in the world:
10. Kevin Garnett
American Basketball Player
$34,750,000
9. Shaquille O’Neal
American Basketball Player
$35,000,000
8. Alex Rodriguez
American Baseball Player
$39,000,000
7. Lionel Messi
Argentinian Footballer in Barcelona
$39,900,000
6. Manny Pacquiao
Filipino Boxer
$40,000,000
5. Kimi Räikkönen
Finish Auto Racer
$40,100,000
4. David Beckham
British Soccer Player in Los Angeles
$45,200,000
3. LeBron James
American Basketball Player
$42,410,581
2. Phil Mickelson
American Golfer
$52,950,356
1. Tiger Woods
American Golfer
$99,737,626
COMMENTS:
– All amounts above are a combo of athletic earnings plus product endorsements
– Gambling winnings and birthday cash not included
– Who the heck is Kimi Räikkönen? Anybody ever heard of him/her?
– Manny Pacquaio—too tough, too strong, too fast! He’s da man!
– “To whom much is given, much is required” — Jesus (Luke 12:48)