Its time to pay NCAA Athletes

[cjkalt]

In the 21st century, it is time for us to treat student-athletes on campuses the same as every other student. Football players devote their daily lives to their team, at the sacrifice of their education. Yet every Saturday when they put their bodies on the line in the name of their respective institution, how are they repaid? They are told to go get a 4.0. While this certainly is a good goal to morally have in a realistic world, the fact of the matter remains that they put their sweat and soul into football, as a roommate of 2 different college football players at an elite institution I have seen before my very eyes how impossible the time constraints given by football inhibit an athlete's ability to get a solid education.

While these athletes are compensated by getting their education paid for, they do not recieve the full benefits of this like other scholarship students. This is due to the increasing time commitment players make to football. As an eyewitness to this phenomenon, my roommates might have put 8 hours a week into their schoolwork on a good week. Can you truly say that their getting a good value in their education package? As my 1st roommate put it when he dropped Engineering, "I've always wanted to do it, but the fact is I can't ever go as a professor for help, I can't make group study sessions, and I can't even make all the classes. I'd love to do this, but their is only time for 1 because their is no support system for Engineer-Athletes and I've got no choice but to play football."

This lack of education was illustrated by another football friend when he learned he had a career ending injury: " For 3 years all I've cared about is passing, and now with football gone I'm looking back and saying what have I learned? How am I going to be able to get a job? All this time and energy invested in football but I got nothing now, no education, no money where do I go from here?

As a result players will drop the major of their dreams to an easy one so they can put the time into football. While this is a sad reality, instead of saying well its their own decision or things need to be changed, we need to embrace it as a reality and that changes aren't in the horizon. How can we fix this? We can pay them using the record level profits.

The amount of money currently being made in division 1 football. 5 institutions made over 50 million dollars last year on their football programs with another 13 making over 37 million. The reality is for all the time these athletes put into their sport the university could easily give half a million back to these athletes.

The same holds true for NCAA basketball, over the past 30 years the sport has gone from not being shown on TV, to being the top sporting event in the country, yet with the tens of millions being made on this tournament, the athletes don't see a dime of it. As one basketball player put it, " I'm never going to make it (To the NBA) and what do I have to show for it? I got some experiences but lets be honest thats not going to get me a job anytime soon? My education was about passing cause thats all I had time for and now I got nothing."

When I asked these 3 about being paid the various responses were intriging. The 1st player said that its not about getting rich its about being compensated for the risk they put on their lives. "CJ, every play could be my last... I could break my leg, I could be paralyzed for life. In the real world, people are compensated higher for risky jobs. Playing football while fun, is very dangerous, the risks of this game are shadowed by the media, NCAA and NFL. All I'm asking is that I get something for if god-forbid something terrible happens I can take care of myself for awhile or possibly get an advanced degree."

The 2nd had a more futuristic plan, " I'd love to get paid, I don't have an NFL future and I'd love to be able to pay for a Masters degree so I can go out into the real world and be a successful ND alum that happened to play football. I haven't been able to get the full undergraduate education value cause I was busy serving the university. But to get the money to propel my life, it certainly be a life-changer cause my family certainly can't help me out with it."

The 3rd took a more general view of it: "It's tough to pay us all (referring to the money generating sports) and not pay the non-revenue ones but at a big University it certainly would be a drop in the bucket compared to the revenue's and I'd certainly love to have some more spending money like the rest of the student body. It would be nice to go out to a nice dinner with my gf without having to think about the budget all the time. I feel like I've worked hard enough and sacrificed enough where that shouldn't be an issue.

This issue certainly has 2 sides but with the millions being made the students should get a small piece. Lets give athletes some security and let them earn money for the hard work, sacrifice, service and risk they take all in the name of the university and the NCAA.

[cjkalt]

bump

[NYgiantsfan5689]

NCAA athletes do get paid.........it's called scholarships. I'd sure like to go to 4 years of college for free. I'll take $200,000 over 4 years to play college sports any day.

[browntown653]

Yeah, I vehemently disagree with this article but I don't feel like arguing about it

[cjkalt]

NCAA athletes do get paid.........it's called scholarships. I'd sure like to go to 4 years of college for free. I'll take $200,000 over 4 years to play college sports any day.

But academic people get academic scholarships? They get to go to school for free and they don't have to put hundreds of hours into something other than their studies?

Even the non-revenue sports have time for their education as their practice/media/travel doesn't take anywhere near as much time.

[HollywoodLeo]

Trying to summarize all my points in the other thread now.

- Paying NCAA athletes would be giving them an added advantage in life that other college students don't get. Paying them before they actually achieve a position in the field they're trying to get.

- If you're going to argue that the classes are a complete waste of time for them, the only logical conclusion is that they shouldn't be attending the classes and they shouldn't be wasting the scholarships. This class space and scholarships should, instead, be used on more students who it won't be a waste of time for.

- I still think people are perfectly capable of making the time they need, even if it means making sacrifices they may not want to make.

- Getting a degree in something is in the athlete's best interest, because if he gets one he's not completely screwed in life should he suffer a major injury. Paying him the small salary you are arguing they should get would not alleviate this issue.

[bwitty24]

I don't remember the basketball players' name or what team he plays for but someone this year was a TRIPLE MAJOR and had a sick GPA, while being the BEST player on his team. Therefore, I think that it is more than possible for athletes to do well in school while playing a sport. It may not be as easy (not that it is easy) as regular students because of the large amount of time these sports take up, but it is possible if these athletes are willing to put in the extra effort during their four years of college.
If an athlete doesn't think that they can accomplish what they need to academic wise, maybe they should reevaluate their choice to play football.

Let's just say hypothetically we would give these athletes 20 to 40 thousand dollars a year. If they accomplish the same things academically, how is this helping? It's not, at all.

It is bogus to say that college athletes should get paid for playing football for FREE. This has nothing to do with me wanting to go to school for free or not. The risk may be high for these athletes, however, if they do make the professional leagues, the reward is tremendous.

Also, there are so many opportunities for athletes to get academic help in school.

Finally, Engineering at Notre Dame is hard for everyone.

[cjkalt]

1) Whats the difference in paying football players than students that work as research assistants in a lab? They are clearly not at the pinnacle of their academic potential yet they get paid to do minor work in labs. Where is the difference? Interns across the country this summer are getting paid to do work, they are not at the pinnacle of their potential but they get paid anyways.

2) You are talking about 1 athlete out of the thousands of athletes, its so easy to say to put the extra effort in and this shit, but the fact remains, there are only 24 hours in a day. That won't change no matter what one would like to think. These athletes need to sleep, eat, and relax like every other college student.

If you give the athletes 20-40 thousand a year, if they don't make the NFL it gives them money to do anyone of the following
1) Go to Grad School- where they would have time to focus on their work
2) Start a small buisness
3) Get a downpayment on a house/condo

And yes their are resources but they can't make up for the hundreds of classtime/group study/tutorials these athletes miss due to their athletic commitments which go beyond practice. The media and commmunity obligations take up more time than you can imagine.

If students working in research get paid when they have not "achieved the position in the field they are trying to get", why shouldn't athletes get these same oppurtunities expecially when they make over 100 million and the research assistants make 0 for the University?

[bwitty24]

Let's just face it...players who are going to make the NFL are the ones where media is an issue...not the 3rd string player.

Are private tutors not a good enough resource?

Start a business? That would really work out well I am sure. If they don't know anything how will they be able to run a small business? Also, how will they get into grad school without good grades.

There is a famous line that goes something like this..."If you give a man a fish he will eat for a day, however, if you teach a man to fish he will eat for a lifetime."

If one athlete can do it (and I know there are more athletes that are able to LEARN) why can't others? One reason is because a lot of athletes think that they are so above everyone else that they don't need to do the whole school thing. Often times, athletes either don't show up or don't pay attention in class. Can you explain this for me please?

If athletes put in genuine effort and don't expect everything to come perfect for them, then they will be able to receive a meaningful education. It isn't like us "normal" college students spend all of our time doing work.

[cjkalt]

1) Athletes don't know nothing, thats a terrible assumption to make, all I said is that they don't get the oppurtunity to maximize the scholarships they are awarded. And the institution that the athlete is currently at would certainly let them into their graduate programs.

2) Your making terrible assumptions that aren't true so let clarify them:

- All players are required at media times, 3rd string or 1st string they have to be available as not all pieces are totally football related

- Most athletes take their academic duties seriously, its not like 90% of athletes are failing out, you only hear of a few academically ineligible players each year (and not all are due to poor performance but a miscount on credits or what not(see BC's Raji for an example of this))

- Maybe at Backup College they don't show up but at ND they want to learn...maybe BC should set some higher standards?

- Lets say they get a meaningful education (which isn't necessarily possible even with effort), its the fact they have to major in Philo., or History to get classes to fit into schedules. What post-college career do they have? Most of the athletes can't afford grad school on their own, so if they get paid they could enhance their education even farther.

You still didn't answer the question i posed: Why is it okay for research assistants on academic scholarships to get paid for their work but athletes can't get paid even though they make 100 million for the school and the research assistants make 0?

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[bwitty24]

Well I didn't contend that nor do I know anything about it.

And by don't know anything I meant pertaining to a business that they would create. If they don't learn the basics of business, their business will most likely fail. That's what I meant by that.

And your sample size is not much greater than mine (3 vs 1). Mike Mussina was able to do it. There are many athletes that do get great grades.

[rockin500]

*shrug* I dont have a problem with athletes if they got paid. I'm not saying a lot, but say, something like an internship with a company that pays you while working in your field in college. they are in practice, what 20 hours a week? give them the chance to earn something close to minimum wage and pay them for the hours of practice.

Some of the NCAA rules regarding what coaches can do for kids is completely ridiculous.

[Providence A's]

they'll never get paid for the simple fact that the NCAA is technically for amateurs even though football and basketball are sort of like the minor leagues. no matter how much one argues for it, it will never happen. during undergrad I did one of my com101 public speaking speeches arguing for it...but it will never, ever happen.

[HollywoodLeo]

How are football and basketball like minor leagues? Because the professional leagues of those sports don't have a minor leagues?

[Providence A's]

because many players use that as a stepping stone to the pros not caring about academics...and yes, partly because those leagues don't have minor leagues like hockey and baseball.