TOP EARNING ATHLETES a.k.a BREAD WINNERS

These numbers are crazy!!! you mean to tell me Phil Mickleson makes more on endorsements then Lebron James? Phil makes 22 million more on endorsments then LBJ. Look at Floyd Mayweather Jr. numbers he only made 250,000 in endorsements, but he's 3rd on the list due to his 60 million in prize fighting. Tiger is still number one. It's obvious that Golf is a major money sport. I figured some NASCAR drivers would crack this list but they didn't. Two New York Yankees in the top 10 earning athletes. It's an empire over in the Bronx.



WHAT DO EWE THINK IS THE BIGGEST SURPRISE OUT OF ALL THESE NUMBERS?

Tiger Woods
Golf
Last Year's Rank: 1

1. $20,508,163 salary
2. $70,000,000 endorsements
3. $90,508,163 total earnings
Tiger's off-course troubles cost him millions in endorsements -- he was dropped by Gatorade, AT&T and Accenture. But a $10 million FedEx Cup bonus helps keep him at his usual No. 1 perch.

Phil Mickelson
Golf
Last Year's Rank: 2
1. $9,660,757 salary
2. $52,000,000 endorsement
3. $61,660,757 total earnings
Expanding the fan base: 15,000 consumers got rebates on Big Bertha clubs thanks to Lefty's Masters win, a promotion between Golfsmith and Phil-endorsed Callaway -- all told a $1 million payout.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Boxing
Last Year's Rank: NR

1. $60,000,000 salary
2. $250,000 endorsements
3. $60,250,000 total earnings
Pretty Boy shoots back into the top five after a one-year absence thanks to earnings from bouts with Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley, the latter of which netted $40 million in purses and PPV sales.

LeBron James
Miami Heat (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: 3
1. $15,779,912 salary
2. $30,000,000 endorsements
3. $45,779,912 total earnings
King James left millions on the table by choosing to bolt Cleveland for Miami. But will James be the same kind of star -- on and off the court –- playing alongside Dwyane Wade?

Alex Rodriguez
New York Yankees (MLB)
Last Year's Rank: 4
1. $33,000,000 salary
2. $4,000,000 endorsements
3. $37,000,000 total salary

A-Rod may be baseball's highest-paid player, but even he is feeling the real estate slowdown. He and his ex-wife recently unloaded their one-acre, six-bedroom estate in Florida for $8.5 million -- one-third less than the purchase price.

Shaquille O'Neal
Free Agent (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: 5
1. $21,000,000 salary
2. $15,000,000 endorsements
3. $36,000,000 total earnings
No matter where Shaq ends up next season, he is easily the all-time NBA leader in total salary: Over an 18-year career, he has earned more than $290 million.

Kobe Bryant
Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: 7
1. $23,034,375 salary
2. $10,000,000 endorsement
3. $33,034,375 total earnings
Kobe now has something else in common with Michael Jordan. His extension has him due to earn $30 million in 2013-14. The only other player ever to earn that much in one season? Jordan.

Derek Jeter
New York Yankees (MLB)
Last Year's Rank: 9
1. $21,000,000 salary
2. $10,000,000 endorsements
3. $31,000,000 total earnings
The Yankee captain is in the final year of the 10-year, $189 million pact he signed as a 26-year-old. Hal Steinbrenner says there will be no further talks on an extension until after the World Series, but New York must re-sign him.

Peyton Manning
Indianapolis Colts (NFL)
Last Year's Rank: 10
1. $15,800,000 salary
2. $15,000,000 endorsements
3. $30,800,000 total earnings
Should more companies hitch their wagons to Peyton? The clean-cut quarterback has replaced Tiger as America's best sporting role model, according to results of a recent 60%

Dwyane Wade
Miami Heat (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: 12
1. $15,779,912 salary
2. $12,000,000 endorsements
3. $27,779,912 total earnings
Wade became the biggest star in free agency, convincing LeBron James and Chris Bosh to sign with Miami. While Wade took less money to stay in South Beach, he should more than make up for it in endorsements.