Charissa Thompson chides fans who complain about athlete salaries: ‘Knock it off’

Sure, professional athletes are paid more money than the average fan could imagine, but Charissa Thompson doesn’t want that held against them.

During an episode of Calm Down with Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson this week, the conversation turned to players who recently suffered season-ending injuries. Andrews mentioned San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa and Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner being out for the year, calling it “heartbreaking.”

Thompson then noted Austin Ekeler’s wife recently posting a video on social media chronicling the long road to recovery after a season-ending injury. The Washington Commanders tore his Achilles in Week 2.

“Behind these reports that come out, there’s a whole family and life, especially if you have kids,” Thompson said. “It’s more than just ‘Oh, man, this guy went down, that sucks for my fantasy league.’ Well, that sucks for him.”

“I just have so much respect for athletes,” Thompson added. “And it’s not, ‘Oh, they get paid a lot of money.’ Knock it off, there’s a lot of people that get paid a lot of money and don’t do as much work.”

Fans are usually sympathetic to season-ending injuries. It’s when players miss time for minor muscle pulls, tweaks or fatigue that sets fans off on a rant about how much money athletes are getting paid to sit out.

Thompson is right, fans usually make a lame argument against professional athletes earning as much as they can get. Fans have a borderline obsessive interest in how much money professional athletes are paid because they see the contract announcements and watch the ensuing performance.

But the NFL is a multi-billion dollar industry comprised of athletes who are unionized and have a very unique skill. There aren’t many people who can play a sport at the elite level required to play professionally. And if the athletes who make the sport entertaining aren’t getting paid, then it goes to the billionaire owners who are sitting in their luxury suite.