Marshall: Paying players

[toddc 13,194]

PMARSHONAU: College football on the brink

ByPHILLIP MARSHALL Sep 25, 8:48 AM 

Share107 Comments

You can blame soaring coaches’ salaries. You can blame those coaches for selling NFL futures to prospects as much or more than they sell education. You can blame whoever or whatever you want. But the fact is college football as we know it is tottering on the brink.

At Houston, a quarterback decides to sit out the rest of this season because his team isn’t good enough. One of his top receivers joins him. To hell with teammates who have a season to play.

It’s a popular thing to sit out bowl games. The 13th game of the season is too dangerous, somehow more dangerous than the 12th game or 11th game or 10th game.

And now politicians are getting involved. California is on the verge of passing a law that would allow student-athletes carte blanche to be paid for the use of their names or likenesses. New York wants to force athletes to receive, in cash, 15 percent of the revenues for athletics. Politicians in other states are considering similar bills.

If these things come to pass, get ready for the first million-dollar quarterback signee. Get ready for players to transfer because they can get more money in another program. Get ready for education to truly take a back seat.

College football is not the NFL, where it’s about individuals who happen to play for teams. College basketball is not the NBA, where it’s even more that way. College athletics weren’t meant to be like that and can’t survive like that.

Sticking with football since it’s September, such a system might work for a handful of programs. For most, it would mean a fast trip to irrelevance and the dismantling of not only football programs but athletic programs in general.

Does anyone believe Auburn could recruit enough businessmen to put up the kind of money it would take to compete with what Alabama would be able to offer not just the stars but everybody on scholarship? Texas A&M? Georgia? Florida? LSU? I can tell you the answer. It is no.

The great myth is that college athletics programs are rolling in money. They are not. They pay football coaches millions now because that’s what the market demands. They build facilities, the vast majority of them with borrowed money, because that’s what it takes to keep up.

If playing college football is all about getting ready for the NFL, the NFL needs to form a farm system and let those with no interest in the college experience go play for money out of high school. News flash: If you do that, most who take that route won’t make it. They’ll be left with no money, no education, nothing. But, by dang, they’ll be able to get money for their names and likeness.

 Are people ready for the College Football Players Association? Are they ready for the first strike? Are they ready for stadiums that aren’t half full because the allure of college players playing for each other, their families and their schools is gone and what is left is second-rate pro football? Are they ready for a coach who disciplines a player to be sued because he is potentially hurting that player’s livelihood? Are they ready to hear a player is choosing one school over another because he can make more money there?

As a result of playing college football, thousands of young men have college degrees they never would have had. They have learned lessons of teamwork and accountability. They have been trained and taught by the best of the best in the best facilities. They have had academic help if they needed it. Those who are good enough can parlay it all into playing their games for a living. Most aren’t good enough, but they have experiences and relationships that they cherish for a lifetime.

College football players receive scholarships that pay for their schooling. They eat the best food and live in nice places. They get, in most programs, in the neighborhood of $5,000 a year to spend as they choose. Yes, the work hard, remarkably hard. But the return can last a lifetime.

Yet, lawyers, seeing the potential for windfalls of their own, would have you believe they are exploited. Ask the kid who waits tables at night and will repay student loans for years if he or she believes anyone is being exploited.

107COMMENTS

College football is on the edge of abyss. If someone doesn’t come to their senses, it will soon be something for the privileged few if it’s for anybody at all.

And that is really sad.

[toddc 13,194]

I’m pretty much in agreement with all of this!

[gr82be 14,441]

14 minutes ago, toddc said:

I’m pretty much in agreement with all of this!

Me too and I know most of what is mentioned in the article has been discussed on other threads. The Houston situation falls under the "just because you can doesn't mean you should" category. The game is changing and the world is changing and change isn't always what we like to see. Who knows if this will eventually destroy the college football game but I think it will. I fell in love with college football because it was about playing a game simply for the love of  the game. Sure, it's a path for a few fortunate ones to a professional career but most just play because the love it. It's headed away from that now. I'll still watch until it becomes mostly unwatchable like the NFL.  Then I guess there's always HS football, at least for now. 

[alexava 6,973]

I’m not going to preach on education. But I do love college football because it’s college football. I don’t think $ and contracts and all that crap would help what we love. Kids don’t need to play for $. They are playing for the chance to play for $. They just happen to get a FREE education while doing so. Not a bad deal!

[looney 794]

I thought from this thread title that someone was trying to mash up ice hockey and football.

 

EDIT: I also generally agree with the sentiment of this article. I absolutely understand the argument that college athletes (particularly football, basketball) should get some sort of compensation because the schools are making SO much money - although PMarsh does a good job countering that point above.

BUT I do think it changes the nature of the game almost overnight. The transfer portal thing already scares me. Much more so if money is involved.

The players do get a lot of perks - shoes, clothes, fancy dorms with pool tables and video game rooms, dedicated medical staff, tutors, etc.

The players - as I understand it - do NOT have an opportunity to take side jobs and make spending money. That part seems unfair, even though I realize it opens the door for corruption.

This is a tough pickle. I keep going back to the "NFL AAA league" idea as Marshall mentions. I think it keeps the purity of college football, such as it is, and allows kids who are really only interested in the NFL route to go make a little money for playing.

 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

P Marshall is late to the party...….and he is still living in 1965. Football players could work a summer job back then and make it through to graduation. It was a very different world. 

The REASON that corruption exists is because there is a NEED by the vast majority of these kids who play college football. Most are not from an affluent home and they need money. Pay them something for the use of their name beyond college tuition because they cannot work like most college kids do. It is impossible to make ends meet without some kind of income. I believe they are earning millions for the schools....so share some of it with the players in a structured way that is aboveboard and fair to all involved. It does not have to such a big deal.  And if they take care of it now and work something out it will save the college game. There is no way to justify the exploitation that goes on with the way things are set up currently. 

Other full ride scholarship students can make money from their talents while attending school and nobody whines about "amateur musicians" or "amateur artists" .  A student should be able to use whatever talent they have been given to earn a living. 

 

[Sizzle 3,917]

The “perks” that these athletes get still doesn’t equate to the money that these schools bring in with these tv contracts etc. if players do end up getting paid it won’t take away from the excitement or “purity” of CFB even though college athletics is anything but pure

[Howard Roark 195]

They won't pay the players for 2 reasons:

1. Title IV.  If they pay the players in revenue sports, they have to pay the players in all sports.  Not only that, they have to pay them the same.  Most athletic departments operate in or very close to the Red.  There is no ability to pay. They will be forced to end the programs or drop to lower level where they can compete.

2. Lawsuits.  Lawyers are pushing for this so they can sue the Universities.  Once you pay the players, they become employees and all that entails.  Pro players are not employees, but contracted to play.  The schools will be liable for workman's comp claims (in addition to a whole host of other potential lawsuits).  Lawyers see this a potential slush fund of money.  

If forced to pay players, this will destroy college athletics (not just football) as we know it today.  Most likely the college programs will be replaced by club teams like you see in European basketball and soccer. 

[Quietmaninthecorner 1,945]

I see this from a unique perspective.

How does 1/4 million dollars over 4 years sound?    

My only issue with all of this is the cost for non athletes to go to school.  $230,000+  is the cost to go to Auburn out of state for 4 years.   My kid was a 4.6 GPA HS student .  Did well enough to be considered at Harvard and get into Vandy with better schollys).   Received the second highest Scholarship Auburn offers,  and some other scholarship offers from AU,  and that barely covers HALF the cost to go to Auburn.. 

 

So an athlete gets free tuition,  and has to work a ton of hours.  Doesn't have any money,  can't work because of athletics.   Can graduate mostly debt free.   Most every other student HAS TO get a job,  works a ton of hours,  and has no money because it all goes toward the rest of tuition etc.   They graduate with debts.   YES,   there are a lot of rich families that can afford to send their kids to Auburn(college in general) .  The %  is high,  because the average family with kids that have  higher grades and test scores do not go to Auburn,  they can not afford it because the academic scholly programs esp at  at Auburn SUCK!

 

All this "extra money"  that would go to the athletes should go to the academically strong students that can not afford tuition and taking on debt.   How this would work across the nation is beyond me,  but something has to be done about the cost of tuition in general. 

 

Athletes (FB) get free tuition, healthy food, top notch health care, a nation spotlight to showcase their skills.  And now they may get spending money. 

Academic students get some of their tuition payed and  huge  costs and debts. 

So is the university about education or athletics?

 

If we get better scholarships for everyone,  then I think the next step would be paying players.   

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

16 minutes ago, Tigerbelle said:

P Marshall is late to the party...….and he is still living in 1965. Football players could work a summer job back then and make it through to graduation. It was a very different world. 

The REASON that corruption exists is because there is a NEED by the vast majority of these kids who play college football. Most are not from an affluent home and they need money. Pay them something for the use of their name beyond college tuition because they cannot work like most college kids do. It is impossible to make ends meet without some kind of income. I believe they are earning millions for the schools....so share some of it with the players in a structured way that is aboveboard and fair to all involved. It does not have to such a big deal.  And if they take care of it now and work something out it will save the college game. There is no way to justify the exploitation that goes on with the way things are set up currently. 

Other full ride scholarship students can make money from their talents while attending school and nobody whines about "amateur musicians" or "amateur artists" .  A student should be able to use whatever talent they have been given to earn a living. 

 

Belle, what do they need to make ends meet for? They are living in free housing with free food and free entertainment while going to school for free, as well as a stipend, often, to spend freely, and athletic gear from the school and bowl games alike. The argument is that college football players are already being paid in the form of all this free stuff. You're right, they have less time on their hands to work a job, but they are not paying expenses like the average college student. 

Do you think that other people on campus don't bring in money to their school? What about students as potential donors to a school one day? You don't think we should pay them now for the money they may bring in later? What about theater and arts students that often put on shows that brings in a few thousand dollars? They shouldn't get a cut of it too? 

The point is that it is a school. These players are free to play college football if they would like, and try their hand at the NFL without going to college. Although it's difficult to do, that is an option for them to choose. There are plenty of things in life that I have to do to ensure my future success in which I don't get paid. Why should college athletes be any different? Because they work hard and generate money for the University? Tell that to all the other students on campus who participate in research projects, SAE Formula team, business competitions, building science contests.. Try telling that to the AU Marching Band who sell albums every year and don't distribute out the money they make freely to all members of the band. Tell that to the Auburn University Singers that hold 3-5 shows every year and bring in roughly $10,000 on the weekend plus money from all other events they do. Students don't see a dime of that to spend as they wish. How about the students that speak at Auburn Development Campaign events that are literally there to raise money for the University by using their business talents and savy speaking and schmoozing to rich donors and don't get paid a lick. 

Plenty of students have talents that make the University money and they don't ever get paid for it. If you're going to make a standard for one group of people, you have apply the same standard to others. 

 

[AUght2win 6,855]

31 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

The “perks” that these athletes get still doesn’t equate to the money that these schools bring in with these tv contracts etc. if players do end up getting paid it won’t take away from the excitement or “purity” of CFB even though college athletics is anything but pure

It will make college football a profession for 18 year old kids. There will be agents. It will be a lot more gross than it currently is. Besides, I have yet to see anyone explain how it will work. Every D1 kid gets paid equally? An arbitrator determines their worth? Does their pay go up if they go from zero to hero (Baker Mayfield going from walk-on to Heisman). And how will we keep other sports afloat when they depend entirely on the money football generates? 

[looney 794]

34 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

If players do end up getting paid it won’t take away from the excitement or “purity” of CFB.

I don't think there's any way to say this definitively without knowing what the system would look like, in addition to the myriad considerations presented above (attorneys, law suits, agents, worker's comp, limits on spending, etc.).

[Tiger 8,829]

It's their American right to make money off their own face. 

We can either clean up college athletics by letting them make money above board or keep letting the grimy underbelly of the sport spin out of control. 5-6 figures to kids families for their commitment or allowing them to make some money because Gatorade wants to put them in a commercial. Which would you rather have? It's not possible for both or else we'd be living in that world right now.

[bigbird 60,573]

2 hours ago, toddc said:

At Houston, a quarterback decides to sit out the rest of this season because his team isn’t good enough. One of his top receivers joins him. To hell with teammates who have a season to play.

FWIW, D'Eriq is not sitting because of the team. That is a gross mischaracterization of him and his decision. It's a move to try and get him to the next level. At 5'10" and a legit 4.45 he is going to try and train into another position. One where his size and speed won't be considered a liability but an asset.

[JDUBB4AU 5,121]

40 minutes ago, Tigerbelle said:

P Marshall is late to the party...….and he is still living in 1965. Football players could work a summer job back then and make it through to graduation. It was a very different world. 

The REASON that corruption exists is because there is a NEED by the vast majority of these kids who play college football. Most are not from an affluent home and they need money. Pay them something for the use of their name beyond college tuition because they cannot work like most college kids do. It is impossible to make ends meet without some kind of income. I believe they are earning millions for the schools....so share some of it with the players in a structured way that is aboveboard and fair to all involved. It does not have to such a big deal.  And if they take care of it now and work something out it will save the college game. There is no way to justify the exploitation that goes on with the way things are set up currently. 

Other full ride scholarship students can make money from their talents while attending school and nobody whines about "amateur musicians" or "amateur artists" .  A student should be able to use whatever talent they have been given to earn a living. 

 

Maybe I am dumb, but Base it off of household income. A lot  of kids have nothing before college and need help, but that help doesn’t need to be 25 year student loans . There has to be a way. 

[Swamp Eagle 5,144]

52 minutes ago, Tigerbelle said:

P Marshall is late to the party...….and he is still living in 1965. Football players could work a summer job back then and make it through to graduation. It was a very different world. 

The REASON that corruption exists is because there is a NEED by the vast majority of these kids who play college football. Most are not from an affluent home and they need money. Pay them something for the use of their name beyond college tuition because they cannot work like most college kids do. It is impossible to make ends meet without some kind of income. I believe they are earning millions for the schools....so share some of it with the players in a structured way that is aboveboard and fair to all involved. It does not have to such a big deal.  And if they take care of it now and work something out it will save the college game. There is no way to justify the exploitation that goes on with the way things are set up currently. 

Other full ride scholarship students can make money from their talents while attending school and nobody whines about "amateur musicians" or "amateur artists" .  A student should be able to use whatever talent they have been given to earn a living. 

 

Put the money in a trust to be doled out after amateur status is exhausted, but I disagree with paying out while playing. Although I disagree with your basic concern (poor, poor players), I do agree that it's the fact that SOMEONE other than the player is benefitting monetarily from the player; that initiates the whole discussion. 

Of course, they weren't making big money in another day and time so it wasn't really an issue, but I sometimes get the feeling that demographics drives the pay for play more than anything because, somehow, it's politically correct.

[WalkingCarpet 1,379]

I get people not wanting to "pay the players" but every time I read an article like this it makes me think the old guard is comfortable with the amount of corruption that has existed in the college game for decades and are fine looking the other way. The NFL is never going to invest in a minor league because NCAA football is already a minor league and there's no fan appetite for another football league. There's barely a fan appetite for the NFL right now with how uncompetitive the league has been for the last 6-8 years in addition to the mismanagement by Goodell and the owners. I get the slippery slope argument but why is it wrong for a player to go sign autographs at a car dealership and make some cash? It's not going to be unlimited money being thrown around by the Phil Knights and Boone Pickens of the world like some people think. There's going to be regulations and rules that people haven't discussed yet. College football isn't going to just "end," there's too much money and fan engagement for it to just go away. 

[oldaufeller 367]

Worked the numbers on page 6 - Already a goo discussion here - Both arguments presented well

 

[AUGunsmith 666]

Pay them their worth or let the NFL draft from highschool. For the major recruits and most other nfl hopefuls the degree you get is useless. Look at the horse crap that is the business admin major that a very large number of Auburn players are in. The majority of these kids wouldn't even make it into Auburn if it wasn't for sports ability so let's stop pretending that a useless degree with no marketable skills obtained is enough "pay"  

[WarTim 3,456]

“Do you know where the word AMATEUR comes from. It’s from the Latin word (to love). Once you get paid, you can no longer call it love.”  Robert Tyre Jones Jr (Bobby)......JMHO 

[Barnacle 9,064]

34 minutes ago, oldaufeller said:

Worked the numbers on page 6 - Already a goo discussion here - Both arguments presented well

 

Fantastic discussion. Thanks for the link. I learned a lot from reading your posts. 

[CR 2,446]

College football has been a free minor league system for the NFL for years. Let them contribute some if their billions into a system for college players. They receive stars into their league at no cost to their league before the player sets foot in an NFL stadium. And lots of players attend college only because that is the only route to an NFL career. How can you blame them?

[RHN1975 302]

uat has been bringing in a ton of money the last few years and had a surplus of just over $11 million this past year. Their share of the SEC payout didn't even cover the football budget. This is one of the highest profile schools that brings in a ton of money and I promise you they couldn't afford to pay athletes. You are not just paying the starting QB. Once you go down this path you are paying the back up goalie on the women's soccer team or the guy throwing the shot put that can't place in the top 20 at an SEC meet. That is not feasable. 

[Beenjammin 87]

Why come to college at all. Let them be drafted right out of HS then if they want them, like baseball and put them in camps until they are ready and pay them then.

Cant pay student athletes. It will set up the schools with the most money a terrible unfair advantage and kill the sport. Im sure it happens under the table and off the books.... fine  keep it that way. If they start paying them im done buying tickets. I would have paid Auburn to sit the bench with the team if I could have played at all. 

[gravejd 3,270]

I think there has to be a middle ground somewhere between players get some free classes and players signing at schools for a million dollars.