Oh to be rich and play games all day. What a dream it would be. Of course I’m not giving athletes enough credit. It’s a lot of hard work and dedication, but if it’s your passion and something you love do those things come easy. However, it also helps your pocket book too if you got a few sponsors under your belt.

Here’s a short top ten list of the top earning athletes ending in 2007

Tiger Woods
Earnings: $100 million
Sport: Golf
Born: Dec. 30, 1975

Oscar De La Hoya
Earnings: $43.0 million
Sport: Boxing
Born: Feb. 4, 1973

Phil Mickelson
Earnings: $42.2 million
Sport: Golf
Born: June 16, 1970

Kimi Raikkonen
Earnings: $40 million
Sport: Auto racing
Born: Oct. 17, 1979

Michael Schumacher
Earnings: $36 million
Sport: Auto racing
Born: Jan. 3, 1969

David Beckham
Earnings: $33 million
Sport: Soccer
Born: May 2, 1975

Kobe Bryant
Earnings: $32.9 million
Sport: Basketball
Born: Aug. 23, 1978

Shaquille O’Neal
Earnings: $31.9 million
Sport: Basketball
Born: March 6, 1972

Michael Jordan
Earnings: $31 million
Sport: Basketball
Born: Feb. 17, 1963

Ronaldinho
Earnings: $31 million
Sport: Soccer
Born: March 21, 1980