I actually got some feedback to my blog about College Sports. I was asked, “What are my views about how college athletes should be handled?” I thought I had addressed this before, but I couldn’t find it. So I’ll lay out my logic for you now.
My thought is that any college student that receives a scholarship should be treated like any other college student that receives a scholarship. Allow me to illustrate because I would bet you that you are wrong about what I mean. As usual, I’ll use examples to make my two points.
I had an athletic scholarship when I went off to college. I was awarded this scholarship for my abilities and skills in the area of ATHLETICS. I have a friend (BTW – A SMOKIN’ HOT FRIEND) that has an academic scholarship to the same university I attended. She was awarded that scholarship for her abilities and skills in the area of BUSINESS, which is what her degree is in. Both of us have / had free tuition, room and board. My books were also covered, but I am not sure if hers are. The point is basically I am presenting two students on scholarship that basically get the exact same thing.
But this is where the difference begins. The NCAA has stepped into my world and declared that they are additional rules that apply to me.
My super sexy friend can actually go out and perform business services for anyone, and get paid, and keep the money. No one cares that she can do this. She is cute, so she can let someone pay her to put her face on flyers perhaps to recruit people to her sorority. She can hire an attorney to protect her future. She can hire a CPA to watch over her money. She can hire an investment company to protect her assets. And if one day she has no money, and she “flirts” her way into a haircut, she has broken no rules.
On the contrary, I was precluded from using my abilities and skills to generate money. I can’t play ball somewhere and get paid, I can’t even coach for money as it would be a violation of NCAA rules. If the school puts my face on a program to induce people to buy tickets, or if they sell jerseys with my number on it, I can’t get a penny. I can’t hire an attorney, an accountant or an agent as all of these would cause me to be banned from playing ball. Oh, and if I took a free haircut I would have violated the NCAA rules.
Seriously!
Basically, the difference is that one student can make money using the skills that got her a scholarship where the other student CAN NOT use those skills to make money. This is where there are inequities and the athlete should be allowed to make a buck off of his skills or face; JUST LIKE ANY OTHER STUDENT.
Actually, the athlete should be allowed to make more money because he actually generates more money. I’ll use another example from my past to explain.
My senior year in High School we were facing our biggest rival. They had a guy who was All State All State
Yup, a local TV station decided to televise this game because it had become such a HUGE deal to the public. It would be televised all over the area. T-shirts were printed and sold. Radio talk shows discussed the game all week. Everyone was on the bandwagon to watch me and this other kid play against each other.
I love hype. But this is what is seriously wrong with school athletics. At the end of the night, I stood alone in a locker room, peeling off my blood soaked pants and sweat covered jersey, looking at my bruised body, and limped over to a water jet machine to try to be able to bend my knee again as all the pain shots I had to take before the game just to play had worn off. I was exhausted, beaten up; sore and I had probably taken time off of my athletic life by playing in that game.
Yet I had NO money in my wallet.
The owner of the stadium made a fortune. Both schools made a fortune. The TV station made a fortune. The radio stations made a fortune. Crap, even the guy selling the t-shirts made a fortune. Everyone got rich but me and that guy.
BUT WE WERE THE ENTERTAINMENT! We each took a beating, risked our career and lives, and got NOTHING in return. The two of us generated a ton of money for everyone. We should be entitled to our cut.
Everyone that ever played football dreamed of going to the NFL. Some are good enough and some aren’t. The problem is that even though you are good enough, you play a brutal sport. You may not stay healthy enough to survive long enough to make it to the NFL. And folks, in this system that is the only time you can make money.
College football is the minor leagues of the NFL, yet no one gets paid.
The guy I played against in that HUGE game was lucky. He stayed healthy and made it to the NFL where he made his money. I was injured. So even though we were equally talented, I never got the chance to make any money. I had to risk everything every week just for the chance to make money years from now, and that’s not right.
So here is my solution. The schools don’t need to do anything additional.
First, allow the athlete to make as much money as he can off of his skill, name or face. If he wants to hire someone to print out his jersey with his name and his autograph then he should be allowed to sell it and keep any profits.
Second, allow the athlete to hire lawyers, accountants and specifically agents. If the agent wants a college athlete to sign with him, he would freely provide the recruit with an income while he plays college ball. When the athlete graduates, and gets drafted in the NFL, the agent then begins to make his money with the player. But the risk and burden remain with the agent. He could pay the athlete for three years and then the athlete gets injured. The agent is out that money. Or the athlete could just no turn out to be good enough to be in the NFL; again the agent is out of luck.
But the point is that the athlete is rewarded immediately for putting his body on the line. The agent pays him a salary to sign with the agent. And the agent assumes the risk of caring for the athlete until he can create a revenue stream for the agent.
It’s a win / win / win.
Oh well, it’s not a perfect system and no one will ever listen to me. But trust me . . . . . this would work.
Have a SUPER weekend . . . . and think about me once cuz I'm thinking about you!
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