average benefit for a player who retired at the age of 50 was $ 38,000 per year . A player who has had a 10-year career was eligible to access $ 102,000 per year .
NBA players are also eligible to participate in a league-sponsored pension plan . The NBA matches a player ' s contributions by up to 140 %. After three years of service in the NBA , players receive healthcare coverage for life . Players with 10-plus years of service in the league receive coverage for their spouse and children too .
The average National Football League ( NFL ) career lasts only three years . That however is enough time to qualify for the league ' s pension plan . The league ' s plan is premised on a player ’ s years of service in the league .
A player with a minimum of three years of play receives an annual pension check of $ 21,360 at retirement . In 2014 , retired players received an average annual pension check of about $ 43,000 . Players who retired in the 1980s and 1990s receive anywhere from $ 3,000 to $ 5,640 per month for every season played in the NFL . Since 1998 , newly retired players receive $ 5,640 each month for every year of service . Players with 3 years of service receive an additional retirement bonus in the form of an annuity . Players are eligible to receive their full benefits at the age of 55 .
While its pension plan is much worse than other sports , the NFL offers a generous plan with the league matching every player ' s contribution by as much as 200 %. A life insurance benefit of up to $ 50,000 is available to all former players who have not yet reached 55 or started to receive their pension through the Bert Bell / Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan .
Noticeably absent from the NFL ’ s benefits is lifetime healthcare , largely due to the fact that no insurance company has ever been willing to underwrite the policy presumably because of the horrific nature of many American football injuries and the degenerative diseases numerous explayers end up suffering from . This may well change someday , hopefully .
Many professional and even semiprofessional athletes in other parts of the world live lives that most of our sportspeople can only dream about . They enjoy substantial wages , big endorsement deals , and national publicity . Throughout their careers , they are given the recognition they deserve and in retirement they are well looked after .
It is about time that Kenya began to do the same for its sportspeople . Through legislation and the necessary policy interventions , and in honest consultation with the respective federations and the athletes themselves , we can ensure that their medical needs and welfare are properly taken care of , both during their careers and after . This is the least we can do for these valiant men and women , these modern-day gladiators who give us so much and ask for so little in return .
In the interim , I urge the National Government as well as the county governments of Nairobi and Siaya to immediately begin the process of identifying suitable roads and stadia to be named in honour of Benjamin Ayimba , a great Kenyan .
R . I . P . Benja . Your monumental contribution to the development of Kenyan sports in general and the game of rugby in particular will be long remembered !
Walter Nyabundi is the Research Manager for Public Policy & Governance at Infotrak Research & Consulting Limited . You can commune with him via email at : Walter . Nyabundi @ infotrakresearch . com .