Should college athletes be paid????

[CARDINAL 205]

Most of these athletes, the ones that people think should be getting paid don't know how good they have it. A free education at a big 4 year school is seen as nothing these days. When in reality, it has far more value than any cash considerations the schools could offer.

 

I agree. Most college football players will not make the NFL, and the vast majority of the ones that do make it will only play on average 4 seasons. A free education in today's economy and societal environment is very valuable, and these players that take special gifts and break the NCAA rules are complete arrogant assholes. They are abusing this rare opportunity for some short lived pleasure, when so many kids are to their eyeballs in debt after going to college, and it's worse that they probably won't find a job that is good enough to pay off that debt in a reasonable timeframe.

[Krawnka 282]

Now back on topic, this is coming from a D1 football player who is not currently on scholarship.Athletes should not get paid, it's way to slippery of a slope. It really does suck that the university can make a shit ton of money off a player and we don't see a dime other than scholarships. And we work our asses off, more than any fan will ever understand.

 

 

Being a student athlete not on a scholarship, your view is skewed. You're not being compensated at all, so you have a legitimate beef.

 

True schools make buckets of money from the program, but people will pay to see the games regardless of who's exactly on the field. If the teams are winning, then yeah more people will pay to see them. Jersey and merchandise sales do have some bearing on the name of the player.

 

Consider the amount of students at your university, and consider the gross income generated strictly off of the tuition they pay, the atheletic program allows the non scholarship (like you) students to pay a lower tuition.

 

If the universities were required to pay their athletes, take a guess at how they'll compensate for the loss of revenue...fine for you, since you'll be getting paid, you can compensate...but what about the rest of the student body that isn't a gifted athlete?

 

As I stated, student athletes should be allowed to hold a job, sans manager, and no inflated endorsement deals, or endorsement deals at all, a real world job so they can learn the value of a dollar, and how to manage their money. You may already understand that, but I'd wager, many of your peers do not.

 

As an adult that's been in the Job market for a very long time, I can relate to the value of a College education much more than any student will ever understand. Degrees don't hold as much weight when you're fresh to the job market, but once you have experience under your belt, degrees make a HUGE difference in pay grades.

 

Kids seem to have the illusion that a degree = executive pay at day 1, the real world doesn't work that way, everyone has to pay their dues...but once you have experience AND a degree, you reap the rewards tenfold...versus those of us who have tons of experience, but no fucking piece of paper to somehow validate their body of work.

 

In essence, the beginning Experience trumps degree, but later on in life, degree + experience trumps all.

[FSUViking 184]

Here's another thing nobody has considered. What if a junior RB is being paid $400 a month and a freshman is getting $250. Lets say the freshman totally outplays the upper classmen and decides he's worth more than $250. I'm the starter now and I'm outperforming this guy, so give me $500 or I transfer.

[Omerta+ 1,206]

Just rewatched the ESPN 20 for 20 on Miami. It had some guys talking about how little they make and that sometimes it is not enough to feed themselves which is why they resort to bribes, booster "gifts", and stealing. I can honestly see both sides of the fence but my gut says no they should not.

 

What do you guys think ?

 

I am sure there is another thread, but search did not bring it up. If so can we get a bump ?

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

They get paid in the form of scholarships and not having to actually do their coursework (in most cases). Anyone using this as an excuse for why they take shit while knowing it's against the rules is kidding themselves.

[Omerta+ 1,206]

I understand the scholarship aspect. However College football is a multi-million dollar industry by itself not including other sports. I think a spike in the living stipend at least would not be egregious considering they put in so much time in the Gym, Practice, Film Study, and games.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

I just don't like the idea of other students' tuition possibly going to pay student athletes. Of course the program(s) can bring in money of it's own, and if the school is just taking potential earnings out of that slush fund, so be it.

 

However, I doubt that would be the case. Regular paying students who can't even afford to go to these schools will probably be footing the bill while the university reaps all the benefits.

[OSUViking 505]

Send some of the excess athletics money to scholarship budgets so more academic scholarships can be given.

[GA_Eagle 595]

No. /vin answer

[rzb+ 367]

I understand the scholarship aspect. However College football is a multi-million dollar industry by itself not including other sports. I think a spike in the living stipend at least would not be egregious considering they put in so much time in the Gym, Practice, Film Study, and games.

I feel that you underrate how much a scholarship is worth but even with that, I'm curious of how much more you think they deserve. Their time in the gym, practice, etc is all covered by having sit-in students take their notes, private tutors teach the lesson, and teachers extend deadlines or exam dates. Bachelor's degrees average around $80,000 so they've already been "paid" that much. How much more should the kid get?

 

Now that you have that number in your head, what about the walk-on? These student-athletes are also working on their degree, dedicating to the team, and hoping to go pro like the scholarship kids. They're also doing this out of pocket or through student loans. If anything, I'd say they need more help. Don't you think?

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Student athletes don't realize what they're being given with a free four-year scholarship. And it doesn't help that many of them get money under the table anyway. Look at North Carolina, where fictional classes were being created just to boost student GPAs. Look at Auburn, where students were being bribed with cash and changed grades on their transcripts. Granted, this corruption doesn't happen at every university in America, but given all the recruiting violations and sanctions we see, it's reasonable to think that it's fairly widespread.

 

I'd like to know exactly what the NCAA does with the money it makes off athletics, because my initial reaction is to take that money and put it right back into the education system. Oh, and they could also do everybody a favor by making an example out of the next football program who is shown to be paying student athletes illegally and crucify them with the death penalty.

[seanbrock 1,684]

I said yes. I mean, the full ride scholarship is extremely valuable, but some of these kids bring schools millions of dollars. If the students/players aren't paid then the money should at least be better spent within the schools.

[oochymp 2,393]

Now a scholarship is actually a great deal, for those who have them. Not only do you get school and books paid for. You get 5 meals a week in the cafeteria, and then you get $800 a month to cover expenses such as food and rent. Which my rent only costs $400ish a month, that leaves me $400 a month for food which I often spend $50 for groceries for two weeks. Now that would be if I was on scholly.

 

So here's my suggestion, get rid of the scholarship caps, they are dumb. We all work just as hard on the team, now if a player slacks off or isn't performing you should be able to take it away until they get their act together. But for a guy like me who devotes probably 30 hours a week or more to football, and get nothing in return. I should get something.

truly an enlightening post, I just wanted to highlight these two paragraphs, first I didn't know about the peripheral benefits of the scholarship, five free meals and $800 per month for living expenses should be enough for an average student and there's no reason to give them more than that on top of the free tuition

 

the argument that they don't get the full value of a free education is a bullshit argument to me, and I'll give an example to demonstrate: if I give someone a quarter that's got some weird printing defect that makes it worth thousands of dollars and they then turn around and use it as 25 cents, that doesn't change the fact that I gave them something worth thousands of dollars

 

I think the idea of getting rid of scholarship caps is an interesting one, but I think the caps serve a valuable enough function both in terms of competitiveness (teams have to choose who they can give scholarships to which impacts recruiting, though I suppose you could argue that playing time would fill the same role without scholarship caps) and they provide a better enforcement mechanism, makes it easier for a team to take away the scholarship if they're saying "if you don't work hard for this team we'll give your scholarship to someone who will" (I'm not sure how much authority teams actually have to do this, but if they don't they should) it also provides an easy mechanism for the NCAA to punish schools for various violations, it seems like every NCAA sanction comes with stripping a number of scholarships, so I would suggest just raising the cap number rather than completely getting rid of it

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

I know a lot of D1 football and baskerball players, and it's clear that scholarchips aren't payment subsitutes for the amount of work they have to put in the and revenues they bring in to their individual programs.

 

I think it'd be a terribly hard thing to guage, but at least with D1 schools, it's essentially semi-pro. And I know many Canadians who play hockey here and get paid major bread (by college student standards) by whatever Canadian semi-pro league they play in. I know it'd be way more difficult to do something like that with the NCAA, but I do think D1 college athletes should get paid.

[oochymp 2,393]

I know a lot of D1 football and baskerball players, and it's clear that scholarchips aren't payment subsitutes for the amount of work they have to put in the and revenues they bring in to their individual programs.

 

I think it'd be a terribly hard thing to guage, but at least with D1 schools, it's essentially semi-pro. And I know many Canadians who play hockey here and get paid major bread (by college student standards) by whatever Canadian semi-pro league they play in. I know it'd be way more difficult to do something like that with the NCAA, but I do think D1 college athletes should get paid.

a quick google search shows that NBA D-league players are paid $12,000-$24,000, and I'm guessing that's high-end for semi-pro basketball leagues, so a full scholarship is actually pretty comparable in value to an NBA D-League salary, just because they don't hand that money to the student athletes doesn't change the value of the scholarship

 

it does look like semi-pro football players get paid a bit more (shocker) the UFL gives most players $35k one year deals but starting QBs average $200k and Arena League players make $400 per game in an 18 game season, so it depends on which league you consider a closer comparison, if you compare NCAA football to the UFL then you do have an argument as there aren't many colleges that charge $35k per year, which makes you wonder if the UFL could replace the NCAA as the primary development league for the NFL, I don't know if they have something similar to the NFL's three year rule, but if not it'd be a great market for them to work into

 

also, here are the sources for my numbers here, I can't vouch for the accuracy or currency of the articles, but here they are: Basketball; Football

[AL_Royalty 489]

This is a subject I've bordered on waffling over. I've always taken Oochy's stance, that they get a golden ticket—a chance at a degree, which is something that my mother and I never could have afforded—for playing a game, and what they do with it is their choice. Just because a some kids don't take the advantage of the gift they're given isn't justification to make light of this extraordinary chance that they get.

 

Someone brought up the kids from The U, but honestly thank about them. If you remember correctly, the situation that many of their recruits came from had a bleak outlook at a shitty outcome at best. They NEVER most likely had no other means to get into a community college, let alone a D-I school. That was a tremendous opportunity, and regardless of them not making enough, they were getting far more from football than they were from anywhere or anything else.

 

The only way I could see paying the athletes would be to give all scholarship athletes in a given sport the SAME increase in allowances or spending cash, whatever it's called. Make it a blanket increase, and as Favre said it should come directly from the money brought in by the sport being played. It should not come out of tuition paid for by Joe student. If they were paid in any other way, things could and would get out of hand. Student athletes don't need agents and what not. This way they could keep all of the same rules in place—no gifts from boosters, no fixed grades, no cash gifts, etc...

 

It's true that basketball and football programs bring in a ton of revenue for their respective schools, but the kids participating in these programs can pick any major they want. They don't have to take "dummy" classes. That's their choice. They don't have to make light of the chance they get. They can set themselves up very nicely for the future.

 

Just going to a major program gives them a whole pool of employers in nearly every occupation out there, meaning that if they do choose to get a potentially money making degree, there are employers out there who would LOVE to hire an accredited former athlete who graduated from their alma mater.

 

It's no small thing that is being provided for these kids—room and board, education, spending cash, and world experience that many of them wouldn't be otherwise afforded. Using the reasoning that it doesn't measure up in terms of percentage of revenue brought in vs. the value of the perks the student athlete gets is, in its simplest terms, hater shit. It's sour grapes. "Why they get so much moneyz? I ain't got them moneyz."

[Glanvilles Grits 142]

A full scholarship isn't comparable at all. These schools are making hundreds of millions of dollars off these players - be it football, basketball - whatever the sport they play. A lot of the schools aren't making money off these guys just as a "team", these schools are using kids "name brands" so to speak to get people in those stands. TV Deals, video game deals, ticket sales, all influenced by the names of these big time college athletes.

 

I think that a steady 12,000 to 15,000 a year ON TOP of the scholarship is completely reasonable for these guys to make. If the NCAA isn't going to play their guys to play these games, let them earn money off of their brand. Let them go out and make money off their name doing advertisements and getting on TV and such. Let them make money. It's only fair, the NCAA makes plenty of money off them, let these guys prosper because of the blood and sweat they put on the fields of play for the NCAA.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

a quick google search shows that NBA D-league players are paid $12,000-$24,000, and I'm guessing that's high-end for semi-pro basketball leagues, so a full scholarship is actually pretty comparable in value to an NBA D-League salary, just because they don't hand that money to the student athletes doesn't change the value of the scholarship

 

it does look like semi-pro football players get paid a bit more (shocker) the UFL gives most players $35k one year deals but starting QBs average $200k and Arena League players make $400 per game in an 18 game season, so it depends on which league you consider a closer comparison, if you compare NCAA football to the UFL then you do have an argument as there aren't many colleges that charge $35k per year, which makes you wonder if the UFL could replace the NCAA as the primary development league for the NFL, I don't know if they have something similar to the NFL's three year rule, but if not it'd be a great market for them to work into

 

also, here are the sources for my numbers here, I can't vouch for the accuracy or currency of the articles, but here they are: Basketball; Football

 

The value of the scholarship is based solely on whether or not the athlete performs at a certain level, or doesn't get hurt. At any point, and any time, the student goes down, the scholarship gets cut. At that point, they'd of help a college make X amount of money that they will never see a revenue of.

 

This is a subject I've bordered on waffling over. I've always taken Oochy's stance, that they get a golden ticket—a chance at a degree, which is something that my mother and I never could have afforded—for playing a game, and what they do with it is their choice. Just because a some kids don't take the advantage of the gift they're given isn't justification to make light of this extraordinary chance that they get.

 

Someone brought up the kids from The U, but honestly thank about them. If you remember correctly, the situation that many of their recruits came from had a bleak outlook at a shitty outcome at best. They NEVER most likely had no other means to get into a community college, let alone a D-I school. That was a tremendous opportunity, and regardless of them not making enough, they were getting far more from football than they were from anywhere or anything else.

 

The only way I could see paying the athletes would be to give all scholarship athletes in a given sport the SAME increase in allowances or spending cash, whatever it's called. Make it a blanket increase, and as Favre said it should come directly from the money brought in by the sport being played. It should not come out of tuition paid for by Joe student. If they were paid in any other way, things could and would get out of hand. Student athletes don't need agents and what not. This way they could keep all of the same rules in place—no gifts from boosters, no fixed grades, no cash gifts, etc...

 

It's true that basketball and football programs bring in a ton of revenue for their respective schools, but the kids participating in these programs can pick any major they want. They don't have to take "dummy" classes. That's their choice. They don't have to make light of the chance they get. They can set themselves up very nicely for the future.

 

Just going to a major program gives them a whole pool of employers in nearly every occupation out there, meaning that if they do choose to get a potentially money making degree, there are employers out there who would LOVE to hire an accredited former athlete who graduated from their alma mater.

 

It's no small thing that is being provided for these kids—room and board, education, spending cash, and world experience that many of them wouldn't be otherwise afforded. Using the reasoning that it doesn't measure up in terms of percentage of revenue brought in vs. the value of the perks the student athlete gets is, in its simplest terms, hater shit. It's sour grapes. "Why they get so much moneyz? I ain't got them moneyz."

 

Except, this isn't perfect world, it's not such a "golden ticket", and the college that recruit realize this and use it to their full advantage.

 

In a perfect world colleges would only recruit athletes who are smart enough to meet their educational requirements. That way even in the event that the athlete has no future in the next level, they can use the courses offered, etc, to make a better future for themselves.

 

Instead, colleges do the opposite on purpose going for kids who would never be accepted to these programs if going by academic standards, are barely literate, and that they know hardly have a chance to graduate regardless of how help they are given. What job is a former DI athlete who was accepted on the grounds of athletic talent, can't handle the academic rigors of most of these D1 programs have, and who took tailored classes qualified for?

 

These schools are not interested in giving them a meaningful educational experience, because their schedules and choices are routinely determined by what's best for their athletic endeavors, as advised by their coaches, not their education. This can be seen with programs that funnel athletes into specific majors designed to maintain academic eligibility. And the numerous ways that programs, as allowed by ADs, and ultimately the school's higher officials, find ways to juke around most of these guys being academically ineligible, it's clear.

 

It's a broken, unfair system where the people making a ton of money for a program don't ever get to see it. And are given free meals at the local cafeteria, and a education that most don't know how to properly use to compensate.

[oochymp 2,393]

It's true that basketball and football programs bring in a ton of revenue for their respective schools, but the kids participating in these programs can pick any major they want. They don't have to take "dummy" classes. That's their choice. They don't have to make light of the chance they get. They can set themselves up very nicely for the future.

I agree with most of your post, but I will throw out there that from my understanding a lot of student athletes are forced into a particular program because of their athletic schedule, that's not to say that a department wouldn't be willing to work with them but it does take a little more effort from athletes because of the demands put on their schedules

 

The value of the scholarship is based solely on whether or not the athlete performs at a certain level, or doesn't get hurt. At any point, and any time, the student goes down, the scholarship gets cut. At that point, they'd of help a college make X amount of money that they will never see a revenue of.

this I actually didn't realize, athletic scholarships are just one year, so you're right, a team can choose not to renew a scholarship, which is pretty messed up, scholarships should be guaranteed for four years unless the player decides to leave early and possibly allowing schools a way out if a player walks away from the sport without injury (which I'm sure is rare, but I'm also sure it does happen)

 

Except, this isn't perfect world, it's not such a "golden ticket", and the college that recruit realize this and use it to their full advantage.

 

In a perfect world colleges would only recruit athletes who are smart enough to meet their educational requirements. That way even in the event that the athlete has no future in the next level, they can use the courses offered, etc, to make a better future for themselves.

 

Instead, colleges do the opposite on purpose going for kids who would never be accepted to these programs if going by academic standards, are barely literate, and that they know hardly have a chance to graduate regardless of how help they are given. What job is a former DI athlete who was accepted on the grounds of athletic talent, can't handle the academic rigors of most of these D1 programs have, and who took tailored classes qualified for?

 

These schools are not interested in giving them a meaningful educational experience, because their schedules and choices are routinely determined by what's best for their athletic endeavors, as advised by their coaches, not their education. This can be seen with programs that funnel athletes into specific majors designed to maintain academic eligibility. And the numerous ways that programs, as allowed by ADs, and ultimately the school's higher officials, find ways to juke around most of these guys being academically ineligible, it's clear.

 

It's a broken, unfair system where the people making a ton of money for a program don't ever get to see it. And are given free meals at the local cafeteria, and a education that most don't know how to properly use to compensate.

the NCAA does have academic requirements and teams have been penalized for them, perhaps those standards should be raised, but they are there and are enforced, and I like the idea of using athletic scholarships to bring in students who wouldn't get into the school otherwise, that's what gives meaning to the idea of sports as a way out of a troubled past

[AL_Royalty 489]

The value of the scholarship is based solely on whether or not the athlete performs at a certain level, or doesn't get hurt. At any point, and any time, the student goes down, the scholarship gets cut. At that point, they'd of help a college make X amount of money that they will never see a revenue of.

 

 

 

Except, this isn't perfect world, it's not such a "golden ticket", and the college that recruit realize this and use it to their full advantage.

 

In a perfect world colleges would only recruit athletes who are smart enough to meet their educational requirements. That way even in the event that the athlete has no future in the next level, they can use the courses offered, etc, to make a better future for themselves.

 

Instead, colleges do the opposite on purpose going for kids who would never be accepted to these programs if going by academic standards, are barely literate, and that they know hardly have a chance to graduate regardless of how help they are given. What job is a former DI athlete who was accepted on the grounds of athletic talent, can't handle the academic rigors of most of these D1 programs have, and who took tailored classes qualified for?

 

These schools are not interested in giving them a meaningful educational experience, because their schedules and choices are routinely determined by what's best for their athletic endeavors, as advised by their coaches, not their education. This can be seen with programs that funnel athletes into specific majors designed to maintain academic eligibility. And the numerous ways that programs, as allowed by ADs, and ultimately the school's higher officials, find ways to juke around most of these guys being academically ineligible, it's clear.

 

It's a broken, unfair system where the people making a ton of money for a program don't ever get to see it. And are given free meals at the local cafeteria, and a education that most don't know how to properly use to compensate.

Really? In a perfect world the underachieving, underprivileged would just stay in their place and NEVER be given an opportunity to better themselves by the means that they have at their disposal? You're pretty much saying that, in a nutshell, kids with troubled pasts and bad grades don't have any place in a higher educational environment. They have no business going to schools with the "other half," and they should just stay in their place, right?

 

It's that kind or attitude that keeps these kids who "aren't smart enough" stuck doing menial jobs and hovering around the poverty level, sometimes for generations. These stupid former DI athletes you're talking about have a much better chance of finding a good job than they did if they NEVER WERE DI athletes. Just having a degree makes you almost three times more likely to find a decent paying job.

 

Also, there are a lot of cases where it's attitudes like yours that these kids have been fed their whole life which leave them self-deprecating and perpetuating their own downfall.

 

The so-called unworthy do great things every day. People beat the odds, increase their knowledge, and begin taking their lives seriously out of nowhere all the time. If their being able to achieve athletically gives them even a CHANCE to achieve academically, why shouldn't they be allowed explore that avenue? Holding young adults back from the possibility of self-betterment because they have underachieved as kids is just plain ignorant and closed-minded. In this country, we don't prosecute kids as adults—except in extreme cases—and we shouldn't hold them back for not setting up their future from the crib, especially when they come from environments that don't encourage that sort of enlightened behavior.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

Really? In a perfect world the underachieving, underprivileged would just stay in their place and NEVER be given an opportunity to better themselves by the means that they have at their disposal? You're pretty much saying that, in a nutshell, kids with troubled pasts and bad grades don't have any place in a higher educational environment. They have no business going to schools with the "other half," and they should just stay in their place, right?

 

It's that kind or attitude that keeps these kids who "aren't smart enough" stuck doing menial jobs and hovering around the poverty level, sometimes for generations. These stupid former DI athletes you're talking about have a much better chance of finding a good job than they did if they NEVER WERE DI athletes. Just having a degree makes you almost three times more likely to find a decent paying job.

 

Also, there are a lot of cases where it's attitudes like yours that these kids have been fed their whole life which leave them self-deprecating and perpetuating their own downfall.

 

The so-called unworthy do great things every day. People beat the odds, increase their knowledge, and begin taking their lives seriously out of nowhere all the time. If their being able to achieve athletically gives them even a CHANCE to achieve academically, why shouldn't they be allowed explore that avenue? Holding young adults back from the possibility of self-betterment because they have underachieved as kids is just plain ignorant and closed-minded. In this country, we don't prosecute kids as adults—except in extreme cases—and we shouldn't hold them back for not setting up their future from the crib, especially when they come from environments that don't encourage that sort of enlightened behavior.

 

Spare me the BS. These colleges themselves hardly care about the education that they give their athletes as long as they meet their minimal GPA standards to be eligible. You're being extremely naive about this situation if you think otherwise imo.

 

I'd be completely different if these schools bought these guys in and pushed them to try their hardest both in and out of school, get the best major, or degree possible, and land the best job available. But it doesn't happen, at least most of the powerhouses.

 

The NCAA has extremely low standards that have to be met to be eligible, so do most schools. They take in guys who have almost no chance of succeeding in the program and funnel them into majors that are extremely easy, and, pretty useless (this is a fact, there are many research articles on this topic), and cater them like they are borderline mentally challenged so they can stay eligible.

 

And it's not attitudes like the one I bought up that keeps these guys from ever getting anywhere in life. It's the one fed to them by their coaches in high school once they notice the guys are great athletes, the recruits that get them on campus, and the coaches who do very little outside of the minimum in a lot of cases to get these guys to graduate. You know? The ones who tell all their students to take the same easy classes and all graduate with the same majors in irrelevant topics?

 

Like I said, all it is is a corrupt system made to bring in revenue while setting up most of these guys who already never had a chance in schools with such tough requirements to fail even harder. Where the people making the money never get to see it, and are in return given an opportunity (education) that they can never take advantage of because they have the athletic schedule of a semi-pro/full time pro athlete. It's completely unfair for these guys to not get paid for what they do.

[rzb+ 367]

Maybe the players who want to get paid more should take a different route to being in the NFL then. They're trading in the bigger chance to be recognized but at least they're making the money they want so badly, right? It'd be no different than someone going into the workforce directly out of high school opposing to completing college to get that big raise.

[oochymp 2,393]

Maybe the players who want to get paid more should take a different route to being in the NFL then. They're trading in the bigger chance to be recognized but at least they're making the money they want so badly, right? It'd be no different than someone going into the workforce directly out of high school opposing to completing college to get that big raise.

not really a viable option right now for guys who actually think they're NFL caliber players (by which I mean everyone playing in D-1, notice I said 'think' they're NFL caliber) because that notoriety they get in the college ranks is how they get drafted high, so you're asking a player to greatly reduce his shot at millions in 3 years for $35k now, nobody is going to take that trade unless they don't actually think they'll have a shot in the NFL after college, but again, everyone playing in D-1 thinks they're gonna make it to the NFL (which is another problem with the system, but a different discussion entirely)

[AL_Royalty 489]

Spare me the BS. These colleges themselves hardly care about the education that they give their athletes as long as they meet their minimal GPA standards to be eligible. You're being extremely naive about this situation if you think otherwise imo.

 

I'd be completely different if these schools bought these guys in and pushed them to try their hardest both in and out of school, get the best major, or degree possible, and land the best job available. But it doesn't happen, at least most of the powerhouses.

 

The NCAA has extremely low standards that have to be met to be eligible, so do most schools. They take in guys who have almost no chance of succeeding in the program and funnel them into majors that are extremely easy, and, pretty useless (this is a fact, there are many research articles on this topic), and cater them like they are borderline mentally challenged so they can stay eligible.

 

And it's not attitudes like the one I bought up that keeps these guys from ever getting anywhere in life. It's the one fed to them by their coaches in high school once they notice the guys are great athletes, the recruits that get them on campus, and the coaches who do very little outside of the minimum in a lot of cases to get these guys to graduate. You know? The ones who tell all their students to take the same easy classes and all graduate with the same majors in irrelevant topics?

 

Like I said, all it is is a corrupt system made to bring in revenue while setting up most of these guys who already never had a chance in schools with such tough requirements to fail even harder. Where the people making the money never get to see it, and are in return given an opportunity (education) that they can never take advantage of because they have the athletic schedule of a semi-pro/full time pro athlete. It's completely unfair for these guys to not get paid for what they do.

I never said that the colleges care about the athletes. Only that they put them in a situation to better THEMSELVES. That means taking action themselves to have a better future.

 

Also, yes, it is attitudes like yours. You said so much yourself in your last post. It seems like you're so blinked by your personal crusade to be right that you're not even thinking before you reply. You basically said the same thing that I did in my previous post in response to my previous post. People DO write these kids off. You're right, just like I was when I said that in the post you quoted.

 

The thing is, at least they see SOME redeeming quality in their athleticism, even if their end game to to exploit it in some or many cases. They get a shot that an average person doesn't often get. Like I said before, just having a degree—even a trumped up one—gives them a much better shot at getting a higher paying job than if they didn't get one at all. I've seen it personally, but since you seem to be so into studies and articles, there are plenty that back this statement up if you don't want to take my word for it: look it up.

 

At least these people who "don't care," or whatever, don't just discard the athletes like you were so ready to do before you started back-peddling. I do recall you saying that colleges should only take recruits who are "smart enough." That's a pretty terrible commentary imo. NOW you're claiming that they should do MORE for these kids that you deem unworthy of a scholarship opportunity.

 

You soap box here about this broken system—one of the only things you've said that I agree with—but the only solution that you've offered up is a quick fix of, what was it? 12-15,000 dollars? So just throw some CHUMP change at it in the place of ACTUAL change, right? That's the answer? Pay them a little hush money and then send them out into the world 4 years older and just as unequipped as they were when the were plucked out of whatever hole they came from for exploitation purposes?

 

If you really want to help these kids, which it's been clear from the start that you don't by deeming them unworthy, how about taking the millions upon millions that you want to use to keep these athletes stupid and use it to better their educational experience? Give them better tutors, higher minimum requirements—or at least make them meet the ones already laid out—and a better awareness of the opportunity they HAVE been given. Make no mistake, that's exactly what it is: an opportunity.

 

For the record, I'm not naive at all. I'm not the one who thinks throwing a little cash around will fix the underlying problem, or broken system as it were. It is a golden ticket. It's an earned opportunity that more people will never get than there are those that will. It's a shame that more people don't make these kids aware of the possible life changing doors that can be opened by taking said opportunity seriously. Most of them will never go pro, but all of them will need income. A college education gives them the ability to get it.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

I don't disagree with Dmac, but these universities don't really care about educating ANYONE, not just their athletes.

 

Universities are in the business of making money, not educating people.