28 ARKANSAS BUSINESS April 5, 2010

Daily Sports Report: Sign up for free e-newsletter The Blog: Join sports discussion with Harris & Bahn Jim Harris Chris Bahn Twitter: Follow us @ArkSports360 for breaking news Facebook: Become a fan & receive exclusive benefits Hunter Tops List of State’s Highest Paid Athletes By Chris Bahn

Pine Bluff native Torii Hunter estab- Highest Paid Athletes lished himself as one of the best players NATIVE ARKANSANS in major league baseball over the last Current decade. He broke into the big leagues Athlete 2009 2008 Sport Team/Sponsor College Hometown in 1999 and has seen a dramatic Torii Hunter $18 million $16.4 million Baseball L.A. Angels — Pine Bluff increase in his profile and popularity A.J. Burnett $16.5 million $13.2 million Baseball N.Y. Yankees — North Little Rock ever since. Joe Johnson $14.2 million $13.5 million Basketball Atlanta Hawks Arkansas Little Rock Oh, and the salary bump for Hunter Corey Williams $7.8 million $8.7 million Football Arkansas State Camden has been pretty good, too. Hunter Cliff Lee $6 million $4 million Baseball Seatlle Mariners Arkansas Benton earned $17.8 million more in 2009 than Darren McFadden $5.39 million $4.37 million Football Oakland Raiders Arkansas Little Rock when he debuted for the Minnesota $5.62 million $7.45 million Football Ole Miss (track) Camden Twins. Derek Fisher $4.7 million $4.35 million Basketball L.A. Lakers UALR Little Rock Hunter tops ArkansasSports360. Mark Martin $3.67 million $2.63 million NASCAR Viagra — Batesville com’s list of highest paid athletes with $2.8 million $2.62 million Football Louisiana-Monroe Little Rock Arkansas ties. It’s a familiar spot for Ronnie Brewer $1.83 mil $1.71 million Basketball Memphis Grizzlies Arkansas Fayetteville Hunter, who was No. 1 on the list in Jermain Taylor $1.8 million $3.1 million Boxing — — Little Rock 2005 and was second to Little Rock Kevin Williams $1.5 million $1.5 million Football Minnesota Vikings Arkansas State Fordyce native and NBA star Joe Johnson in $1.2 million $3.36 million Football Philadelphia Eagles Arkansas Camden 2007, the last time Arkansas Business Bryce Molder $1.15 million $9,819 Golf — Georgia Tech Conway evaluated which homegrown athletes $819,000 Arkansas Little Rock were drawing top dollar. Jamaal Anderson $773,530 $3.87 million Football Arkansas Little Rock Athletics have been good to DeAngelo Williams $745,000 $1.38 million Football Carolina Panthers Memphis Wynne Arkansans. Dante Wesley $635,000 $970,000 Football Carolina Panthers UAPB Pine Bluff Baseball and basketball are the Mark Bradley $625,000 $520,000 Football Oklahoma Pine Bluff sports with the top salaries, but the Oren O’Neal $466,760 $375,880 Football Oakland Raiders Arkansas State Stuttgart state has produced highly skilled — and Dustin Moseley $435,000 $420,000 Baseball L.A. Angels — Texarkana highly paid — football players, golfers Sonny Weems $442,114 College Basketball Toronto Raptors Arkansas West Memphis and even a NASCAR driver. Nate Garner $391,240 $357,500 Football Arkansas Roland Each year, the state seems to gener- $391,000 $344,800 Football Cleveland Browns Arkansas Conway ate a new star and big earner in the world of sports. Consider Conway ARKANSAS TIES native and golf veteran Bryce Molder, Athlete 2009 2008 Sport Team/Sponsor College who won just $9,819 in 2008, but Jason Peters $10.54 million $3.25 million Football Philadelphia Eagles Arkansas improved his game dramatically in Ken Hamlin $4.31 million $9.6 million Football Arkansas 2009, earning $1.15 million to rank Jordan Babineaux $1.4 million $1.3 million Football Seahawks Southern Arkansas University No. 14 on our list. Eric Hinske $1.5 million $800,000 Baseball Atlanta Braves Arkansas Salaries ranged from the $18 mil- George Wilson $1.01 million $520,000 Football Buffalo Bills Arkansas lion earned by Hunter to the $391,000 $738,400 $4.1 million Football Dallas Cowboys Arkansas paid to Peyton Hillis, who the Denver Ahmad Carroll $670,000 $520,000 Football Arkansas Broncos recently traded to the Cleveland Tavaris Jackson $540,000 $686,120 Football Minnesota Vikings Arkansas/Alabama State Browns. On average our homegrown $535,720 $885,760 Football Arkansas heroes earned about $3.83 million Jacob Ford $467,280 $301,720 Football Central Arkansas worth of salary in 2009 and combined Steven Hill $423,909 College Basketball Oklahoma City Thunder Arkansas for $95.87 million, not including any Jess Todd $400,000 N/A Baseball Cleveland Indians Arkansas business ventures or endorsements that Marcus Harrison $390,000 $949,605 Football Arkansas might be generating revenue. Tag Ridings $363,597 $568,494 Golf — Arkansas Our list of the highest-paid athletes Stacy Lewis $298,422 College Golf — Arkansas from Arkansas is based on salaries and earnings for the 2009 and 2008 seasons (2008-09 and 2007-08 for basketball). It has been compiled look- ing at salaries and earnings, but does not take into account endorsements/ advertising money. To make the Top 25, athletes must have attended an Arkansas high school. However, we highlight other athletes with ties to the state’s universities and colleges in a separate list. m Nelson Chena

Sources include USA Today, shutterstock ult Getty Images NASCAR, LPGA and PGA. sh utter s tock