Almost everyone thinks it's obscene and bizarre, but few seem angry about it.
The greed of these players, and the people they hire to advocate on their behalf, has a direct impact on the game and our experience of it. If everyone in the elite leagues took a 10% pay cut, the amount of money available to reinvest in grassroots development, stabilising ticket prices, improving the fan experience with new technology etc. would be huge. If it was reinvested it would undoubtedly improve all aspects of the game.
Obviously a 10% pay cut isn't something that's going to happen, and direct reinvestment of revenue back into the game isn't quite so straightforward. But even if salaries were to be frozen now, and there was a shared agreement that this money would be reinvested in the game, the impact would be huge. Yet when this is discussed the focus is on stopping costs from spiralling out of control, rather than actively contributing to the development of the game in a positive way.
However no-one seems to care. We just shrug our shoulders at individuals demanding obscene amounts of money that, directly and indirectly, we fund. And it is primarily for them to spend money on things that they don't need. In most cases it is greed, pure and simple. Yet they take no responsibility for it. The clubs are criticised for raising ticket prices and the agents are criticised for facilitating the greed, but players have a significant contribution to both.
Why aren't we angry about it?