By Matt Shirley
This article originally appeared on Playboy.com.
There's a certain obsession surrounding the wealth of professional athletes, and since we aren't above that obsession, we thought we'd do some research into the highest paid professional athlete from each state. (Make sure to take a look at the definition of terms section below the map before you start formulating your angry comments.)
First off, this map is only dealing with current players. So you won't find Ken Griffey Jr. or Wayne Gretzky. Next, we're only dealing with salaried professional athletes. This means no tennis players, golfers, NASCAR drivers, or professional ping-pongers. They're earnings are based on their winnings so fluctuate wildly. Okay then, your next question is: What does "from" mean? In this case we looked at athlete birthplaces. This means that if an athlete is born in Montana and moves to New York after twenty minutes, he would show up on the map from Montana. Unfortunately there are no current professional athletes from Vermont. :( And finally, player salaries are based on average yearly earnings based on contract information provided by Spotrac.com. So if Joe Schmo signed a contract for 100 million over 10 years, he would be counted as having a salary of 10 million a year. Signing and performance bonuses were not factored into the data.
Data:
BS=BASEBALL | BB=BASKETBALL | FB=FOOTBALL | HO=HOCKEY
State
Name
Sport
Salary
ALABAMA
MATT CAIN
BS
$22.5M
ALASKA
BRANDON DUBINSKY
HO
$5.8M
ARIZONA
ANDRE ETHIER
BS
$17.M
ARKANSAS
CLIFF LEE
BS
$24M
CALIFORNIA
GIANCARLO STANTON
BS
$25M
COLORADO
CHASE HEADLEY
BS
$13M
CONNECTICUT
JONATHAN QUICK
HO
$5.8M
DELAWARE
PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT
BS
$6.4M
FLORIDA
ZACK GREINKE
BS
$24.5M
GEORGIA
DWIGHT HOWARD
BB
$21.9M
HAWAII
SHANE VICTORINO
BS
$13M
IDAHO
JOSH OSICH
BS
$0.5M
ILLINOIS
DWAYNE WADE
BB
$20M
INDIANA
JAY CUTLER
FB
$18.1M
IOWA
MARSHAL YANDA
FB
$8M
KANSAS
ADAM LAROCHE
BS
$12.5M
KENTUCKY
RAJON RONDO
BB
$9.5M
LOUISIANA
ELI MANNING
FB
$21M
MAINE
CHARLIE FURBUSH
BS
$1.3M
MARYLAND
MARK TEIXEIRA
BS
$22.5M
MASSACHUSETTS
STEVE CISHEK
BS
$6.7M
MICHIGAN
DRAYMOND GREEN
BB
$16.4M
MINNESOTA
JOE MAUER
BS
$23M
MISSISSIPPI
AL JEFFERSON
BB
$13.5M
MISSOURI
MAX SCHERZER
BS
$30M
MONTANA
KROY BIERMANN
FB
$1.9M
NEBRASKA
ALEX GORDON
BS
$9.4M
NEVADA
DEMARCO MURRAY
FB
$8M
NEW HAMPSHIRE
MARK FAYNE
HO
$3.6M
NEW JERSEY
MIKE TROUT
BS
$24M
NEW MEXICO
ARIAN FOSTER
FB
$8.7M
NEW YORK
ALEX RODRIGUEZ
BS
$27.5M
NORTH CAROLINA
JOSH HAMILTON
BS
$25M
NORTH DAKOTA
PAUL GAUSTAD
HO
$3.3M
OHIO
LEBRON JAMES
BB
$23.5M
OKLAHOMA
MATT KEMP
BS
$20M
OREGON
JACOBY ELLSBURY
BS
$21.9M
PENNSYLVANIA
KOBE BRYANT
BB
$24.3M
RHODE ISLAND
CHRIS IANNETTA
BS
$5.2M
SOUTH CAROLINA
A.J. GREEN
FB
$15M
SOUTH DAKOTA
CHAD GREENWAY
FB
$6.3M
TENNESSEE
DAVID PRICE
BS
$19.8M
TEXAS
CLAYTON KERSHAW
BS
$30.7M
UTAH
ERIC PEARS
FB
$2.9M
VERMONT
N/A
N/A
N/A
VIRGINIA
JUSTIN VERLANDER
BS
$27M
WASHINGTON
JON LESTER
BS
$25.9M
WASHINGTON, D.C.
KEVIN DURANT
BB
$17.8M
WEST VIRGINIA
O.J. MAYO
BB
$8M
WISCONSIN
COLIN KAEPERNICK
FB
$19M
WYOMING
ZANE BEADLES
FB
$6M
___________________________________________
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