Should College Athletes Be Paid?

[SunsetBengal]

(10-05-2018, 03:01 PM)fredtoast Wrote: That is like saying slavery was not that bad because they all got free meals.  OSU gets over $20 million in TV money before they even count the money they make from tickets and concessions at the games.  Then there are million more to be made in bowl games.


Then why pay coaches millions of dollars per year?  The players are the ones who get broken bones and concussions.

Really??  Let's poll the non-athletes that are going hundreds of thousands into debt, just for the same privilege of attending the same university.  Some of those athletes take advantage of that scholarship, earn a degree, and are fully prepared for life, should football not work out for them.  Many others are wasting good scholarships that could be going to truly needy students, the ones interested in actually getting a degree and breaking the chain of poverty..

I'm going to speculate here, and say that your beef should be with the NFL.  The NFL requires that new players be 3 years removed from HS.  The only way that those players are going to continue their football training and development past HS, is to play CFB.  Why not petition the NFL to set up a "farm system", like MLB?  That way players that have no real interest in being students can still get quality development, without all the hassle of those pesky exams.  As an added bonus, it relieves universities of the hypocrisy of giving scholarships to people with little or no interest in ever using them for their intended purpose.

Think about it.  An NFL developmental league would solve a lot of problems.  It would allow for structured contracts to provide those guys a living wage, yet leave them free from having to work a "real job" while they continue to pursue their passion.  They could set it up with parameters, putting limitations on time allotted in the NFLDL.  For example, an 18 year old athlete could sign into the developmental league for 2 years.  If he shows great promise, he gets a better contract.  However, limit on total time in developmental should be 6 years.  You don't want guys hanging out for 12 years, and having 18 year old kids competing with 30 year old men..