Football player salaries and priorities

     I was pleased to have the following letter to the editor printed in last week's StarTribune....
When I saw "Greenway: The $41 million man" in a headline, I immediately thought of the Greenway that means more to me --the Midtown Greenway bicycle trail that runs through a portion of south Minneapolis.   It appears that the cost of land acquisition, trail engineering and construction, along with some infrastructure costs, were shy of $37 million. What a bargain, compared with Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway's new five-year salary.
     The absurd salaries for professional athletes continue with the following headline in yesterday's paper... "An All Day Payday: Vikings give Peterson $100 million for seven years".
     Imagine yourself a young, impressionable American student. Would you be more apt to concentrate on your academics, or your athletics, knowing there might just be a huge payday awaiting you along the lines of Greenway's $41 million or Peterson's $100 million?
     These enormous salary packages are coming at a time when teachers are under fire for their "excessive" benefit packages.  Remind me again about our nation's priorities....