These top ten highest paid athletes earn some of the biggest incomes in professional sports today because of the attention that they attract. Most of these athletes are playing based on contracts, so they are guaranteed a set salary over a period of seasons or years.

Here are ten of the top highest paid athletes in sports today.
Sports teams, sports management and franchises are willing to pay a lot of money to secure the positive future of their teams and the sport in general.

1. Tiger Woods: Although his career has recently been shadowed by his personal life, Tiger Woods is still a top paid athlete, making approximately $100 million dollars in 2010. Despite dealing with a recurring injury to his knee, he is going to be one of the first athletes to earn $1 billion dollars during his sports career.
2. Kobe Bryant: Regarded as one of the greatest NBA players, the “Black Mamba” earns approximately $21 million dollars a year, and this amount is doubled when you consider endorsement deals.
3. Michael Jordon: Despite being retired, his name is still quite prevalent in the world of sports. His brand sales are currently worth around $1 billion dollars thanks to Nike, making him one of the highest paid of all athletes.
4. Kimi Raikkonen: Kimi Raikkonen is a Formula 1 driver, and the highest paid of all Formula 1 racers in the world. Thanks to Ferrari and lucrative endorsements, he makes approximately $45 million dollars annually.
5. David beckham: David Beckham is a famous football player in England who makes approximately $42 million dollars per year, especially due to endorsement deals with Adidas and Armani.
6. LeBron James: LeBron is one of the highest paid of all basketball NBA players. He earns approximately $40 million dollars every year, and he may earn even more this upcoming year.
7. Phil Mickelson: Phil Mickelson is another high-paid professional golfer who has become a household name in recent years. He stands to make approximately $40 million dollars this year.
8. Manny Pacquiao: This is a well-known boxer who has lethal power and speed. He has won fights against Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya, and as such, stands to make approximately $40 million dollars this year.
9. Valentino Rossi: A leader in motorcycle racing sports, Valentino Rossi has a solid win record under his belt, and he makes $16 million dollars from Yamaha alone. He earns approximately $35 million dollars annually due to endorsement deals.
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr: One of the most popular of all NASCAR drivers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earns approximately $34 million dollars every year due to merchandising and sponsorship deals, meaning that he earns almost twice as much as most of his rivals in the sport.

This is just a small sampling of the highest paid athletes in the business today. Whenever a new athlete breaks into the business and performs well, this balance of power can shift to accommodate the newest stars.

Jerry Butler was the Cleveland Browns mean player development director. For the past 10 years Jerry Butler worked with all incoming Cleveland Browns players. He helped them make an easy transition into the life of a pro football player. He not only worked closely with the players but also the family members of the players who often had to make long distance changes as their family members played for the Cleveland Browns. Just as helping pro football players join the NFL was part of the job, so was helping pro football players make the transition out of the NFL.

Another part of Jerry Butler’s job description allowed him to help players make career decisions, seek internships and even finish their college education if it was a choice and a goal of theirs.

Jerry Butler played for nine seasons with the Buffalo Bills as a wide receiver and has close personal experience in the NFL. He has been with the Cleveland Browns since the  team expanded in 1999. He originally worked exclusively with wide receivers that join Cleveland Browns but quickly moved up to a player development director after two years with the team.

While many people speculate that this move was related to labor lockout team spokesperson for the Cleveland Browns is quoted as saying that this move has nothing to do with the labor lockout and with a personal decision on Jerry Butler’s behalf.

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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith was welcoming his first child into the world. Due to the lockout coaching staff were not allowed to be present at the hospital or visit the San Francisco 49ers wife in the hospital. Luckily, there is always a way around certain rules and regulations.

The NFL team asked for special permission from the league to allow the coaching staff and several other members to visit with Alex Smith and his wife, Elizabeth. The NFL league okayed the visit to the hospital stating that it would only be a social visit and there was no chance that official football talk would occur during that time.

The NFL lockout prevents any official discussion from happening between team owners, coaching staff and players. However, if the visit and meeting is officially petitioned and deemed a social visit it can occur.

At the moment, Alex Smith’s contract with the San Francisco 49ers expired but due to the lockout no talks have been allowed to happen between the quarterback and the team. However, Alex Smith has stated that he plans on rejoining the San Francisco 49ers when the lockout is over and talks can resume again.

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The Oakland Raiders have allowed their employees to keep their salary as long as they sell a certain number of season tickets. That might not sound as easy as it looks. Each employee is responsible for selling enough season-tickets that equal 10% of their salary. With ticket prices ranging from $260 to $989 this could be easy or a tough task depending upon how the employee approaches the ticket sales.

While this approach during the lockout might seem unusual it isn’t surprising. The Oakland Raiders were the last in the league when it came to attendance numbers. On average there were only 46,430 people at a game and only had a sold out game one time the whole season. Team officials believe this incentive to sell tickets might encourage people to purchase tickets and make an effort as a whole group to help improve the Oakland Raiders.

However, with the United States in a recession these season tickets are going to be a tough sell for a league that is in a lockout that has no end in sight.

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The extent of the pay cut that is reported varies depending upon which paper was reporting. Some reported pay cuts of 10% and only for lower ranking employees for the team, while others stated that it was upwards to 20% and included everyone from general managers and coaches.

On condition of anonymity a worker for the Miami Dolphins stated that should the lockout go past June 1 many high ranking individuals in the Dolphin franchise will see pay cuts. These include general manager Jeff Ireland, all assistant coaches and head coach Tony Sparano.

The salary of each individual that is up for a pay cut varies. It is reported that Tony Sparano is making around $2.8 million, while the others have a reported salary of anywhere from $200,000 to $1 million dollars.

All Miami Dolphins employees will continue to show up for work as the team needs to be ready to go the moment the lockout is over, but it will come with a hefty price tag.

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On Friday, all the players unions filed a brief in  the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The briefs stated that professional athletes have a short career and the lockout prevents them from being able to develop their career. These briefs also outlined that the lockout hurts the players professionally and personally because it limits their careers.

The NFL Players Association also filed a brief that outlined why the lockout should be lifted. They outlined that in football there is no offseason so the lockout should not be in place as it is still part of the football year.

The NFL lockout has been in place since March and prevents all 32 NFL leagues from meeting, signing contracts and having the players workout. On April 25, a Minnesota judge in the federal court ruled that the lockout must be lifted. However, the NFL league quickly appealed it and had it reversed four days later.

This past Monday the U.S. District Judge ruled that the lockout can stay in place and there is no date for ending the season. This is because the league and the players association have the right to have a court hear and investigate all appeals before ruling whether or not the lockout can stay in place and the season must end or whether or not the lockout is lifted and players can meet.

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Tim Tebow decided to show up to workout with fellow teammates. Tebow is in his second year as a NFL pro and plays as a quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He was seen on field warming up and conditioning with fellow players like wide receiver Britt Davis.

In the past few weeks the media and football experts have blasted Tim Tebow for choosing to workout on his own and not go to practices with fellow teammates. However, when asked Tebow stated that he would just rather workout and work on his skills and it doesn’t matter if he was on his own, in front of cameras or with his teammates.

Tebow showed experts wrong by working closely with Britt Davis and never missing a beat. Workouts picked up right where they left off and neither player was bitter about the other working out on their own.

Due to the NFL lockout, NFL teams are not allowed to hold official offseason workouts in any NFL setting. The 12 Denver Broncos met up at the South Suburban Sports Dome where they warmed up, ran some sprints, worked on conditioning and just enjoyed each other’s company.

Many NFL players have reported missing the friendship and atmosphere that comes along with offseason workouts. This unofficial workout was organized by Brian Dawkins, a safety for the Denver Broncos.

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Texas police launched a state wide investigation into a drug trafficking ring which led to Willie Andrews and 12 other people’s arrest. The former safety is being charged with creating a conspiracy that involved the intent to sell and distribute the drug hydrocodone. He is also facing a charge of owning and holding a firearm while committing the crime of drug trafficking.

Each defended, including Willie Andrews faces a maximum of 10 years in a federal prison if found guilty. He could also face up to life if charged with the firearm violation.

This is not the first time that the New England Patriots former safety is in trouble with the law in regards to drugs. Just days after football’s biggest event, the Super Bowl, he was charged with possession of marijuana. According to reports Willie Andrews hid over a half pound of marijuana in his pants as well as stashing a few ounces in his car seat.

This drug charge led the New England patriots to cut him from the team. Other criminal charges that Willie Andrews has faced include criminal mischief and pulling a handgun on a police officer during a traffic stop which he only served ten of the sentenced thirty days.

Willie Andrews and the other 12 involved in the drug trafficking ring a week trial in a federal Texas court.  The court date has yet to be set.

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All rule changes will be made at the owner meeting which will take place in Indianapolis. The meeting was originally scheduled for March but was postponed due to the lockout.

The biggest change that will be proposed is banning the illegal launching from any defensive player that allows them to leave their feet to hit or obtain the ball from the carrier. This has long been a point of interest in regards to player safety as many football players have received injuries from performing this defensive action.

This new safety rule will be presented at the owners meeting as three different rules. This will increase the chance of the motive to be passed should the owners wish to pass it. In order for the rule to change it must get a vote of 24 of the 32 current owners.

When this rule change was initially announced many players were reluctant to advocate for it because they believed that it was not addressed properly. However, the competition committee has taken all concerns into account and separated the rules into three sections to address all concerns.

The NFL competition committee has been looking at eliminating unnecessary roughness from the sport of football. This new rule change will be a step in the right direction to helping ensure the safety of all professional football players.

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