the athletes want to be there, they dream of the opportunity to play for a professional team and are paid to do it.

>What's radical is pretending it's anything else. For every
>millionaire ex-NFL players there are literal thousands who put
>everything into it and make nothing.

who makes nothing in the nfl? are you speaking about people who try to make it and don't?

It's inherently
>unpredictable, and represents no more real progress than a
>lotto ticket.

its not unpredictable, it's a science. players are picked for their agility, strength, speed, etc. as these are the qualities that yield the greatest amount of success, and these are the qualities that are tested against other players. the very nature of the sport is to test physical and mental toughness. men like to compete against one another. it is within our nature to be competitive.

is there anything in life that is structured differently? when you are being evaluated for a job, are you judged by your qualifications for that job or because you wanted it more?

>
>Contrast with actually raising the social floor or providing
>equal rights / protection / opportunity to all.

are you suggested that players in the nfl are oppressed and have no equal rights or protection?