Pay for Play in College Football

A lot of people always talk about whether or not college athletes should be paid. Well I don't really care either way but there aren't many people offering up solutions that both parties agree on.

I think the whole issue arises from universities making tons of money off football and the football player only gets a scholorship...which some players don't even care about because they're in preperation for the NFL. So they take improper benefits which leads to suspensions and probation.

I've heard the arguments about how an engineering student is encouraged to work with professional engineers and do whatever he/she can do to enhance their opportunties when they graduate. But then we hamper football players (and other sports) by prohibiting them from interacting with agents and other people associated with professional sports. And we don't want them to accept money from boosters, but if an accounting firm paid for an accounting student's rent or car payment in exchange for work later we wouldn't have a problem. I guess the easy solution there would be to have a 'football' degree. But that is sort of dumb since players with no chance of the NFL would take the 'football' degree and have a pretty useless degree.

But my solution to the pay for play in college football isn't a monthly paycheck or a debit card they can use around town. I say that players should get a percentage of the money from jersey sales. It's easy to figure, send a player a check for 2-3% of the money earned off jersey sales bearing that player's number while they are in school wearing it on Saturdays. That way we avoid the question of, 'if we pay the stars then we have to pay the scrubs' and 'if we pay the men we have to pay the women'. The big time athletes will get a little spending money because that's whose jersey sells. And cap the total amount a player can earn at $5,000 in a calandar year to prevent schools like Texas and Ohio State from recruiting a player promising possible $30-40K years while playing there while Marshall can only promise their stars $3,000.

And really, it's only the first round talent getting into the trouble with money and agents. The guys would leave school after 3 years because they are just so good...they are the 5 star guys out of high school who are incredible talents. Those are the guys who know they're headed for the NFL and they don't need college for anything other than a stepping stone.

All the other guys, that scholorship their getting is payment enough. Those players are getting a degree in another field and they won't be playing in the NFL. They are making money for the school, and the school is paying them with a scholorship. I don't feel sorry for them, they agreed to it. College is expensive and they are earning their pay (which comes in the form of a scholorship).

So if a player is good enough that fans want to buy his jersey at the bookstore, then give him that money...after all those sales are made directly off the back of his star status. But for the other guys, a scholorship is payment enough.

JB