How Professional Athletes are Similar to Normal People

By: Xavier Judkins

Professional athletes are people who get paid to play specific sports in front of a crowd as entertainment.

These people get paid millions of dollars to perform at the top level of their respective games.

Often times because of an athlete’s extreme talents, they are seen as almost superhumans. They have to be living examples of human beings playing games at an elite level.

Professional athletes are often looked up to by young athletes because they are considered the best of the best.

Being a professional athlete doesn’t come easy. There is no way someone could become one without hard work , dedication , and perseverance with their sport. Those same principles can be applied to the lives/careers of the average person.

The lives of professional athletes are similar to, if not more stressful than an average persons.Their sport takes the place of a full-time job, often ranging up to over 40 hours a week of designated practice time, plus games on top of that.

If an athlete is not performing well, they can be cut: which is the equivalency of being fired from a normal job.An athlete’s body is their tool they work with and the sport they play is the job they show up to day in- and day out.

These situations put pressure on athletes to perform at the top level because most of the time, athletes are playing for a living and not just a hobby.

Some might argue that because of the high standards professional athletes are held to, they can’t act like normal people. They have to follow certain rules on and off the field that other people may not have to but they are still normal just like us.

Professional athletes feel emotion just like we do. They don’t like the feeling of being inferior so they relentlessly work to be at the top of their game. They run on tight schedules just like we do , get sick like we do, and go through the ups and downs of life that we do. They are just held on a higher pedestal than others because of their extreme athletic talents.

Professional athletes are far from perfect, they have the same flaws other humans have like hot-head personalities and laziness. An athlete can still treat themselves to junk food , and celebrate wins and success with parties just like normal people.

Some people overlook the similarities of pro athletes and normal people because they expect them to only be the people they see when they are playing; but in reality, they are more genuine and down to earth than we think. We shouldn’t see and treat professional athletes as robots because they aren’t.

By: Xavier Judkins a high school senior who has a passion for football.