Joe Flacco- The man who's dead eye stare and monotone interview promotes awkwardness at the highest level. The man who relies tremendously on a superb defense and is the operator of the 'chuck and pray' offense, a strategy he molded to perfection this past playoff season. The man who enjoys the comfort of a surrounding cast with the likes of Anquan Boldin and Ray Rice. This is also the man that just inked a six year, 120.6 million dollar deal and won the biggest game in professional sports, The Super Bowl, where he was also named the games Most Valuable Player.
Mike Trout- The most electrifying man in sports and entertainment! Wait... wrong guy. Mike Trout: the 2012 American League Rookie of the Year and runner up to a triple crown winner for AL Most Valuable Player. The man who put up a rookie campaign like we've never seen before, who posted a WAR of 10.7 and was shortly there after legends such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Mickey Mantle for greatest "Wins Above Replacement" in a single season. The man who was the first rookie ever to hit at least 30 home runs and swipe forty bases in the same season, and who tied the Angels rookie stolen base record by the all-star break, after missing the first month of the season. This is also the man who will make $510,000 this season, just $20,000 above the league minimum.
Joe Flacco and Mike Trout are both south jersey natives, Flacco playing his high school ball at Audubon and Trout playing his at Milville. Both men seem to go about their respective craft in much more of a 'show' then 'tell' type of manner. However, that's where the similarities end. This upcoming season Flacco will become the NFL's highest paid player; out-earning the likes of Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady. On the other end, Mike Trout, whose raise is only enough money to cover his food expenses from this past off-season, will make just over the league minimum.
This goes to show how much weight NFL owners put on winning the big game. For much of his career, Flacco has been criticized. He's been good, but never great. Flacco has never once had a season where he ranked higher than 13th among NFL quarterbacks for Quarterback Rating (QBR) and twice he has ranked 25th or worse. His statistics among all other quarterbacks in the league are as average as they come, however, he was able to put together a postseason run where he threw 11TD's and zero interceptions- and that's all she wrote. Whether he goes back to being average Joe Flacco, is not an issue for him. He'll be getting paid regardless.
Mike Trout on the other hand will be making the least amount of money in the league compared to his value. It is not unheard of for younger players to make similar money, for major league baseball players make around the big league minimum for their first three years of service. However, those major league players usually aren't doing things like this.
Although, according to 'business insider,' Mike Trout's new contract may have been a form of punishment. (http://www.businessinsider.com/mike-trouts-new-contract-may-have-been-a-form-of-punishment-for-rejecting-a-better-off-2013-3) His time will certainly come, and when it does, he might eat all the burgers in New Jersey.
I'll let you be the judge. Who's contract is less fair? Comment Below or Vote to Give us your opinions. However, one thing is for sure.
This should never be happening.
