Should student athletes be paid??

[Goldbug]

Why, though? The cost is near zero and there is all kinds of positive publicity and the ability to promote that they are as much about education as they claim to be out of this. There's no downside.

You're probably right. Maybe 20% of these kids are (a) smart enough to get an advanced degree and (b) have the motivation to get one. The vast majority of these kids are doing good to just get a BA. But I'd make damn sure they had some academic requirements to keep the scholarship active such as a minimum number of hours/semester, minimum GPA and a maximum time to complete an advanced degree. Otherwise you'll have some professional students milking the system.

 

[wiskyisgood12]

I would have loved to finish college debt free. I would love to not have sign student loan debt checks, but I know this will be apart of my life for years to come.

With that said, no, they shouldn't be paid. I like the idea of anytime a student-athlete wants to return to school they can, and the University will cover their tuition. I'm okay with having medical insurance for the rest of their life as well. But, by no means should universities just cut checks to student-athletes.

 

[JDM]

You're probably right. Maybe 20% of these kids are (a) smart enough to get an advanced degree and (b) have the motivation to get one. The vast majority of these kids are doing good to just get a BA. But I'd make damn sure they had some academic requirements to keep the scholarship active such as a minimum number of hours/semester, minimum GPA and a maximum time to complete an advanced degree. Otherwise you'll have some professional students milking the system.

Oh, sure, there should be limits, but like I said, the cost is pretty low. An extra student in a few classes has negligible cost to the school.

 

[TexasExes98]

Agree 100%. I came out of the Marines, went back to OU and worked to cover the portion of my costs that weren't paid by my scholarship. I still had to borrow some money to make it. I paid the money back over 10 years and every sacrifice I made to get my education was worth it. Finally ended up with a BA, MA and PhD (not all at OU). My friends who were playing football at OU loved it. Sure it was hard work but none of them would have given up the chance to play football because (1) they were good at it (2) it gave them a free ride and (3) the ancillary benefits were great. Some of them went pro; most didn't. But they ALL still have the satisfaction of saying "I played football at OU". Same goes for Texas, USC, Bama, etc., etc. It's simple: don't take the damn scholarship and be a grunt like the rest of us were if you think you're getting screwed being on an athletic scholarship. Bitching about being "used like a piece of meat" is about as smart as someone enrolling at MIT or Cal Tech and then complaining "it's not fair; it's too hard". Fuck these morons with their entitlement attitude.

EXACTLY!!!! The regular student will give back to the university more than your average football player ever will after the regular student graduates and donates to the university's endowment. Should the regular student get paid for attending the university? Not to mention, once the players who do not go pro and graduate, they will be making serious bank right out of college. If you're a former football player at Texas, you are pretty much guaranteed a good job when you graduate. Fuck these babies and their entitlement attitudes. I blame it on their shitty parents instilling this life of entitlement.

 

[TBBishop]

Why, though? The cost is near zero and there is all kinds of positive publicity and the ability to promote that they are as much about education as they claim to be out of this. There's no downside.

The cost isn't near zero when you factor in that they only have room for X amount of students to attent and any student there for free is taking the spot of a paying student.

 

[TBBishop]

Probably be handled like most insurance disability claims these days, lump sum payout and done with.

Yea but if I pay him $250,000 for an injury that seems like it will be there forever and it gets better then I'm out the money. More so if he gets hit by a car and dies 3 months after I give him that money then I'm out that money.

 

[bamafan4evr12]

No. Most student's tuition isn't fully covered with academic scholarships and they have to work full time to pay it off and go to school full time to keep their scholarship. You think they have extra money lying around?

 

[The Crimson King]

Once again, NOOOOO!!!! For fuck's sake, don't fall for the hype. These football and basketball players aren't hurting. They eat better than every single student on campus, when they travel, they stay in 4 diamond hotels and eat like kings on the road. Like a previous poster said, they are already getting paid with the "booster handshakes". They don't need to live off campus, they can live rent free in the athletic dorms (too fucking bad, life isn't fair). They already receive a stipend; if they blow that stipend on tattoos, too fucking bad. The average scholarship at big time schools like Texas, OU, Bama, etc is around $150K a year. I'll say it again, if they don't like it, don't sign the schollie and go straight to work out of high school.

It's not even that much for 4 years total

 

[Agent Orange]

No, they signed their contract knowing full well what they were getting into. I'm a full-time student with a full time job, that is lucky enough to have a mother who works for the university so I get reduced tuition. Even so, I'm accumulating debt and will be for the next several years as I plan to go to law school (out of state). I know plenty of people that don't have the luxury of receiving reduced tuition, who are a part of the work and are also full time students. I'd gladly give up working and some of my "free time" to be treated like a god king and walk out with two bachelor's degrees and ZERO debt just because I, "run real fast" or "shoot the ball real good".

Get out of here with that weak kneed crap.

 

[gohusk]

No, they signed their contract knowing full well what they were getting into. I'm a full-time student with a full time job, that is lucky enough to have a mother who works for the university so I get reduced tuition. Even so, I'm accumulating debt and will be for the next several years as I plan to go to law school (out of state). I know plenty of people that don't have the luxury of receiving reduced tuition, who are a part of the work and are also full time students. I'd gladly give up working and some of my "free time" to be treated like a god king and walk out with two bachelor's degrees and ZERO debt just because I, "run real fast" or "shoot the ball real good".

Get out of here with that weak kneed crap.

Yes, I know first hand how much it bites having to work full time while attempting to be a full time student. But that's neither here nor there. Do you think that you should be kicked out if someone wanted to use you for some type of endorsement that has next to no relationship with your school? It isn't just pay we're talking about. It's about the university basically owning you when you clearly have some market value. Would anybody besides Nike really have given a crap if Cam Newton did some Dockers shoot for like 50K while he was at Auburn?

 

[lilchi721]

You know it's all the universities who run the NCAA right?

 

[mrwallace2ku]

Well...the NLRB has sided with the NorWest players...NCAA is in a game now with unions chomping at their heels for a slice of the pie.

NCAA should have figured this all out by now. Greed has way of "blinding" you to what's just around the bend.

Good Stuff.

 

[Irish7478]

It's not even that much for 4 years total

Tuition and room and board at ND next year will be $60k. Add in a couple of thousand or books and fees, and it's getting up to $250,000 for a four year scholarship. It's probably the same at Northwestern, Duke, Vanderbilt, and most other private schools.

 

[HuskerOC]

Well...the NLRB has sided with the NorWest players...NCAA is in a game now with unions chomping at their heels for a slice of the pie.

NCAA should have figured this all out by now. Greed has way of "blinding" you to what's just around the bend.

Good Stuff.

First and foremost, this isn't an NCAA thing. It is a problem for our schools and universities since they are the members, and yes, governors of themselves as members of the NCAA.

As for the paying of football and basketball players?

Sure. Lets give them about $3k to $5K a year in spending cash on top of the well over $100K in benefits they get each and every year.

Along with that, lets pay the students who perform the research at our schools and universities that provide breakthroughs in cancer research, technology, and anything that benefits the progress of mankind. Where are these kids getting paid when they actually provide a service that greatly helps all of us? Not only do they not receive anything more than a scholarship, they also don't get any recognition or respect, much less the adoration of hundreds of thousands if not millions of fans.

These students gain schools and universities a far greater sum in grants and funding than any revenue generated by football and basketball. How about we get them their fair share was well?

And why stop at the college level? When are we going to pay kids who play in high school? I mean, where is their cut of the gate receipts? Wouldn't this fall under child labor laws? I mean how dare we have these kids slaving away as 15 and 16 year olds putting forth 15 to 20 hours or more a week with little more than the benefit of playing in front of a couple hundred to a couple thousand fans, or if they are good enough a scholarship to a Prep school?

 

[963BUSC]

Tuition and room and board at ND next year will be $60k. Add in a couple of thousand or books and fees, and it's getting up to $250,000 for a four year scholarship. It's probably the same at Northwestern, Duke, Vanderbilt, and most other private schools.

That's what worries me about this. What if the IRS decides that private schools scholarships are taxable income.

 

[HuskerOC]

Tuition and room and board at ND next year will be $60k. Add in a couple of thousand or books and fees, and it's getting up to $250,000 for a four year scholarship. It's probably the same at Northwestern, Duke, Vanderbilt, and most other private schools.

Yep.

And how about the following:

• Coaching from some of the best coaches in the country that can aide them in a pursuit of being a professional athlete
• Hands on training from a nutritionist and health expert on a daily basis
• Access to a training table that serves better food than what 99% of the public consumes
• Free gear/clothing
• Tutors (and hot ones at that)
• Playing in front of thousands of fans on any given weekend, including millions on TV
• Treatment as a near God-like deity at a number of major schools across the country
• Better access to female coeds commonly known as Jersey-Chasers
• Freebies from bars, restaurants, and businesses throughout their college town
• Under the table payments at nearly every meaningful major school in the country
• Post-graduate employment that "takes care" of guys after their playing days
• Access to some of the best fitness and weight-lifting facilities in all the country

And many many more that seem to go unnoticed.

Fuck it, lets just have them be semi-professionals, and then we'll have a semi-professional league.

Lets have investors like a Mark Cuban finance the operations of teams in which they will need to find facilities, coaches, TV contracts, and the like, as well as offering up contracts for these 18-23 year old kids. Without the umbrella of the NBA and MLB, those sports minor leagues would fold up tomorrow. And without the NFL involvement, there is no way a semi-professional league full of 18-23 year olds would survive more than a year or two at best. Who would go watch 20 year old semi-professionals being paid $50K or so a year playing for the Tuscaloosa Elephants or the Auburn Plainsmen? Yep. Nobody.


So, I say, give 'em what they want. As they say, you better be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.

 

[HawkeyesRuleURFace]

no, student athletes already have it easy enough with the multiple benefits they receive.

What other benefits would you be implying other than facilities to work out in?

 

[bamafan4evr12]

What other benefits would you be implying other than facilities to work out in?

Free college education?

 

[TexasExes98]

What other benefits would you be implying other than facilities to work out in?

Free tuition, room, board, meals, tutoring, free stay at 4 diamond hotels when traveling, free clothing, free nutritionist, etc, etc.......

 

[Nascar Addict]

I can't say no to paying players too loudly. It makes no since. If you want to make money to play sports, go pro. If you want an education, go to college and be a student athlete.