The List
(page 1 of 5)
The Sporting Life
Only five of the ten highest-paid Chicago athletes were among the top ten just two years ago. (Number 10 then, Derrek Lee, made $8.667 million.)
TEN HIGHEST-PAID CHICAGO ATHLETES | 1. CARLOS ZAMBRANO
Cubs pitcher | $15 million | 2. MARK BUEHRLE
White Sox pitcher | $14 million | ARAMIS RAMÍREZ
Cubs third baseman | $14 million | JIM THOME
White Sox designated hitter | $14 million | 5. DERREK LEE
Cubs first baseman | $13 million | ALFONSO SORIANO
Cubs outfielder | $13 million | 7. PAUL KONERKO
White Sox first baseman | $12 million | KOSUKE FUKUDOME
Cubs outfielder
(based on reports of a four-year, $48-million contract) | $12 million | 9. JAVIER VÁZQUEZ
White Sox pitcher | $11.5 million | 10. KIRK HINRICH
Bulls guard | $11 million | | | | PIGSKIN PAY | RYAN LEONARD
Special teams coordinator/wide receivers coach, Chicago Rush | $33,500 | REX GROSSMAN
Bears quarterback | $629,290 | OLIN KREUTZ
Bears center
Highest-paid Bear | $9.004 million | CEDRIC BENSON
Bears running back | $7.45 million | | | | BASKETBALL BUCKS | BENNY THE BULL
Mascot, Chicago Bulls
Actual amount known only to Benny and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Top NBA mascots make more than $200,000.
(Source: an NBA executive) | | BEN GORDON
Bulls guard | $4.88 million | BILL CARMODY
Head basketball coach, Northwestern University
(for 9/05 to 8/06) | $642,279 | CHRIS DUHON
Bulls guard | $3.25 million | | | HOCKEY CHECKS | NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN
Blackhawks goalie
Highest-paid Blackhawk | $6.75 million | ROBERT LANG
Blackhawks center | $4 million | Zamboni operator, United Center | $33.16/hr. | | | | FIRE POWER | CUAUHTÉMOC BLANCO
Fire forward
Highest-paid Fire player | $2.67 million | WILMAN CONDE
Fire defender
Second-highest-paid Fire player | $151,500 | JUSTIN MAPP
Fire midfielder | $136,000 | BAKARY SOUMARE
Fire midfielder | $78,000 | | | | NON-PROFESSIONAL SPORTS PROFESSIONALS | JEFF WINKOWSKI
Personal trainer, Follow Through Personal Training | $20,000 | NICOLE JEANETTE KNIGHT
Administrative assistant, Highland Park Country Club | $19,200 | STEPHEN COLE
President/CEO, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago
(for 1/05 to 12/05) | $328,846 | |
The Price of Success
There's no set rate for a save or a tackle. But a bit of comparing shows some players are bargains. Devin Hester, call your agent.
| | SALARY |
$450,000 | Bobby Jenks
2007 White Sox closer Saves: 40 | PAY PER
SAVE | Ryan Dempster
2007 Cubs closer Saves: 28 | $5.33
million |
$11,250 | $190,476 |
$4 million | Brian Urlacher
2007 Bears middle linebacker Tackles (including assists): 123 | PAY PER TACKLE | Lance Briggs
2007 Bears outside linebacker Tackles (including assists): 103 | $722,480 |
$32,520 | $7,014 |
$530,000 | Devin Hester
2007 Bears kick returner Return yards: 1,585 | PAY PER
YARD | 2007 Bears running backs
(Cedric Benson, Adrian Peterson) Rushing yards: 1,184* | $9.09
million |
$334 | $7,681 |
$6 million | Martin Havlat
2006-07 Blackhawks right wing Points: 57 | PAY PER
POINT | Tuomo Ruutu
2006-07 Blackhawks left wing Points: 38 | $1.5 million |
$105,263 | $39,474 |
$16 million | Ben Wallace
2006-07 Bulls center Rebounds: 821 | PAY PER
REBOUND | Luol Deng
2006-07 Bulls forward Rebounds: 579 | |
$19,488 | |
Sources: (Jenks) Chicago Sun-Times, (Dempster, Deng) Chicago Tribune, (Wallace) Associated Press, (Bears players) FoxSports.com *Figures are combined
Email
Print
del.icio.us
digg
yahoo!
Comments
Comments are moderated. We review them in an effort to remove foul language, commercial messages, and irrelevancies.
Reader Comments: