The average career earnings of athletes across America's major sports will shock you

The common perception is that all athletes are overpaid millionaires, but that's not exactly true. Although there are some superstars like LeBron James and Alex Rodriguez that make prolific amounts of money, the vast majority of athletes pull in far less — and most aren't around long enough to build a large bankroll. The folks at Sports Interaction crunched salary data from across the United States' major leagues — the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS — and the results compiled in this For The Win-exclusive graphic are shocking. NBA players have the highest average career earnings by far, whereas most MLS players make just half a million dollars.

Sports Interaction also evaluated the true value of the top paid players in each game (for the 2012 season). Kobe Bryant makes more money for every two made field goals than most Americans do in an entire year.

(Thanks to Sports Interaction and Column Five Media for sharing this with us.)