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Pay College Athletes
As you sit back in your easy chair this coming weekend for the first full Saturday of college football action, take a close look at the players running onto the field. If you look closely you'll notice the Nike Swoosh on their jersey. Or the fact that the whole of the team is sporting the same Adidas shoes. The players are walking billboards for a variety of corporations and they deserve some of the revenue then generate by their efforts.
Each week these student atheltes are shown across national television wearing the latest outfits from Nike, carried in the latest bag from Reebok, while walking in the latest shoes from Adidas. You'll see them shine the helmet visor by Oakley on their officially sanctioned Adams helmet.
The counter to the "Pay for Play" argument is that these great athletes are being compensated in the form of a free education at a prestigious institution. But does anyone honestly believe that Matt Leinart's Ballroom Dancing course this fall is adequate pay (in lieu of the 49 million he could have taken home as top draft pick) for his talents on the football field?
The naysayers will further counter that the Universities are being compensated by the corporations who provide the gear and they in turn choose to compensate the players with free room and board and scholarships. They'll note that the players get to use the finest equipment and to attend classes that the average student has to pay quite a sum to enjoy. And though scholarships and room and board are a fine start, these Universities are hardly being generous with the student athlete. Add in the strict NCAA regulations on what work, what pay, and what things the athlete can do, and it is no wonder that numerous players invariably fall on the wrong side of some bureacratic process.
In the real world outside the microcosm of college football, people get paid for their work. And I would contend that playing college football is a full time job. These student athletes do not have the time to pick up spare jobs like most of the "real students" did in college. How many bartenders do you know participating in two-a-days? What waiter spends four hours in a weight room in the morning and does fifty wind sprints after his shift? Who works at the mall between mandatory study tables and watching tape?
And after the Universities are done making their players shills for the season, they send them off to some exotic locale for the "Sponsored by Another Corporation" Bowl. The players bask in the revelry of a few nights in Hawaii (if they're lucky, or Boise if they're not) and the University gets a financial windfall once again.
And exactly how much of this cash comes back to the player in a form they can use in their daily life? Zero. Can the player use his scholarship to take his girlfriend to the movies? Will his Nike Warm Up pitch in for 10 cent wing night? What exactly do the athletes reap of the financial windfall they sow for the universities?
The problem is a system that has become a cash cow for all but the individuals who put their blood, sweat, and tears on the line everyday to insure its continued growth and success. These athletes do work a full time job, and they do deserve to be compensated. The details need to be arranged so no team big or small can become the Yankees of college football, but with a well planned system and a simple monthly stipend or base pay we can put all teams and players on equal footing. So as one of our more well known corporate sponsors might say, "Just Do It!"
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