Enroll at Tennessee

As someone who went out to nice dinners in college, but only because I worked my butt off to make the money to do so, I resent the implication that the only choice for an athelete is drugs or theft.

 

As I said, I'm not advocating giving them millions of dollars. I'm just saying.. Why not pay them Minimum Wage? How much does a normal ticket at Neyland Stadium cost? Multiply that times 100,000... times the number of home games... You don't think they can't give the kids $7 an hour?

Lets do some math

90 football players

20 hours a week of football

For how long? 9 months... which is? 38-40 weeks?

$140 a week x's 90 players x's 40 weeks = roughly $500,000 a year for the University (Or NCAA)

Now sure, there are ~120 D1 Schools (Countless other D2-3 schools that probably can't afford this) but I am positive that the NCAA/Schools/BCS can find a way to cover this cost.

I personally say that you just make this a D1 rule. Just like in D2-3 there are different rules and standards. Typically, D2-D3 schools are well to do schools anyways.

Now you say.. what about other athletics? Swimming, Softball, etc etc... Pay them minimum wage as well. I'm not looking at the budget, but I'm sure there is something that can be adjusted to make up for this. Schools (especially the big schools) profit immensely off of college athletics. You think about tickets, merchandise, tv deals, radio deals, concessions etc etc...

 

You know, the more I think about this line of logic, the worse it gets...

They get all of their expenses paid for, (including a cost of living allotment, by the way), but it doesn't get them the things that they want, so it's ok for them to sell drugs or rob someone for it? That's the expected outcome? Really? If "well, I didn't have enough money for the things that I wanted to have" was an excuss for theft, we'd just be agreeing not to punish theft or robbery.

How do you defend that? Who is getting a better deal than college athletes, other than those who get money from their families? No, seriously, college athletes are getting a free education, including room, board, books, and whatever other degree of perks, in exchange for playing a game that they presumably want to play. On top of all that, if they're good enough at it, they can go into it professionally, which will instantly put them into the top 1% of the population in terms of income.

Trust me, I get the negatives of college sports, the risks and costs of pro sports, and the injustices of some of the economics of the NFL. The level of complaining that you're getting into, though, is just ridiculous.

 

They're getting compensated at a level MUCH higher than minimum wage! Sure, it depends to a huge amount what school you're talking about, but when you look at the cost of tuition, housing, books, etc... and divide that out for each hour that they put into it, they're being more than adequately compensated.

 

You are the only person that is implying that selling drugs or theft is the only way for an athlete to make money. Selling drugs and theft happens when people can't find employment that doesn't suit their circumstances. For example, football players could go up to Taco Bell and get a job, but when they put down their availability... it would be next to none. No business is going to want to hire a person for an hour or two a day. They might as well not even come to work. Also, coaches aren't always too happy when they find out that you aren't dedicating your life 100% to school and your sport.

With all the travel, practice, then classes...(then trying to maintain a social life) It would be very hard for an athlete to keep a job outside of a crooked booster offering employment, as TJ stated in another post.

Even if they got on-campus jobs, much of these jobs won't conform to their schedule.

 

Ok, so you didn't claim that theft and drugs are the only choice, but you did imply that it is an acceptable choice, or an inevitable outcome.

Sorry, I just can't get behind the plight of these poor athletes, who have no way to get what they need. No, I didn't play big time football, but I spent 18 hours a week playing a club sport, and still managed to work between 15-22 hours per week. People can get it done, and they can get it done without the ridiculous opportunities that college athletes get. Really? We're supposed to cry because they can't buy enough CDs?

Hmmm... so you acknowledge that they get jobs from boosters, so you know that at least some of them ARE being compensated in some way, or anyway, they are able to work to get extra money.

 

TitansErick, and GoTitans3801 you guys both bring up the key points in this issue that need to be addressed for any type of solution to be drawn. However I don't see any college player getting 'paid' in the near future. It's just too sensitive of a topic whether or not to pay kids to play a game. I agree with both of you guys, which is why I don't feel this will ever change. And I'm not so sure it needs to change. I for one played football, and can tell you from experience that maintaining your football responsibilities and holding a part-time job is very difficult if your also holding together a social life away from school on top of the away from class activities student need to handle.

Plus, if college athletes get paid wouldn't they need an agent? And how soon would high school athletes go before demanding the same? There's just too many things to consider.

 

There is no way in heck college players deserve to get paid. Why should they?
Thousands of others have managed before, as do normal college kids.