{"id":3523,"date":"2018-03-13T12:06:15","date_gmt":"2018-03-13T17:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gridironstuds.com\/blog\/?p=3523"},"modified":"2018-03-13T16:41:02","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T21:41:02","slug":"yes-lets-ruin-college-football-by-paying-the-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/yes-lets-ruin-college-football-by-paying-the-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes! Let’s Ruin College Football By Paying the Players"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog<\/strong>
\nTwitter: @GridironStuds<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NCAA announced their revenues last week and all hell broke loose. \u00a0$1.1 billion is a huge number. \u00a0It’s an emotion evoking number. \u00a0Billion is a word that absolutely raises eyebrows. \u00a0A billion anything makes you turn your head. \u00a0I hope I’m dead and gone by the time that number becomes ho hum to society. So with that, \u00a0the number $1.1 billion was a glass of ice water in everyone’s face especially the “athletes need to be paid advocacy groups”.<\/p>\n

Has anyone read the stories of the lotto winners and what life is like after they get their check? Once people start counting their money, \u00a0they’re are dead. \u00a0Here come the aunts, uncles, cousins, lawsuits, etc. \u00a0The NCAA had no choice but to announce the revenue but now here comes the student-athlete advocates who think college athletes need to get a check because, \u00a0well, \u00a0those thugs in the NCAA are\u00a0getting rich off their backs.<\/p>\n

I’ve argued about this topic ad nauseam on social media. \u00a0Before I start, \u00a0let me just lay this out because people just love to argue. \u00a0I wholeheartedly agree that student athletes should have all of their expenses paid for. \u00a0We know their classes and books are paid for, \u00a0that’s never in dispute. \u00a0However, \u00a0any situation where players’ rent checks can’t cover the rent and utilities or any situation where food is not supplied in plentiful amounts is a travesty. \u00a0Wherever that exists, \u00a0it should be rectified. \u00a0An off campus check that comes up hundreds of dollars short of reasonable rent costs is an abomination. \u00a0So if that is your argument, \u00a0you can rest easy because I am with you. \u00a0I also agree that players should have enough money to travel back home reasonably when there are holidays, vacations, etc.<\/p>\n

With that said, \u00a0my issue is with the athletes should get a check or revenue share of the NCAA profits folks. \u00a0Stop right there. \u00a0First of all, \u00a0most of you didn’t go past that $1.1 billion revenue headline. \u00a0You can lie to me but you can’t lie to yourself. \u00a0That’s the social media timeline world we live. \u00a0We don’t click on the stories because the headline is all we need to formulate a granite hardened opinion. \u00a0When you have some time, \u00a0read an article on how the NCAA both acquired that money and then how they distributed it. \u00a0I don’t want to bore you with numbers because most of us don’t care about numbers until our bank account says zero or you hear that someone made a billion.<\/p>\n

My stance by and large is this and many of you may not like it. \u00a0The NCAA built this thing. \u00a0Over the years they have grown it and turned it into the grand corporation that it is now. \u00a0In the process, \u00a0it has developed a major platform for student athletes that the savvy ones can use to benefit from handsomely once graduation comes. College student athletes get more exposure now than ever before. \u00a0College athletes are celebrities now more than ever. \u00a0College institutions and their teams are more known now than ever before. Has this come as a result of the blood, sweat and tears of the athletes? Yes it has. \u00a0Has it grown to this outstanding level as a result of the various contracts, partnerships and deals that the NCAA has pushed for and negotiated? \u00a0Yes it most certainly it has.<\/p>\n

Forward thinking student-athletes think about their future and also have a backup plan. \u00a0The greatest athlete can have his career ended in a second. The most talented college athlete may find he’s no fit for the pros. \u00a0As such, \u00a0forward thinking young adults (the ones we want running the country in years to come) will prepare for their future. They will accept the very valuable education that when all is said and done will cost upwards of $250,000. \u00a0They will use their personal celebrity status or that of the team to network with important people in their field and exploit that relationship upon graduation. \u00a0Can you be a biology or engineering major as a college football player? \u00a0Probably not. \u00a0Can you adjust yourself to another suitable major then attend grad school (which you would’ve wanted to do anyway)? Yes. \u00a0Does football teach you to cry when you can’t get your way? No. \u00a0Does it teach you to find a way when their doesn’t appear to be an obvious one. Yes? \u00a0Is this not a successful skill to cultivate for life’s journey? Yes.<\/p>\n

For those of you counting the NCAA’s money and saying these college athletes need to get paid. \u00a0To those of\u00a0you thinking 18-22 year old students getting a free education should pull some game checks, \u00a0my message is for you and the players that might be listening to that. College football is tough. \u00a0You will work hard, \u00a0the hours will be long and thoughts of quitting will enter your mind. \u00a0Take advantage of the free education you’re getting from institutions that 1,000s up on 1,000 of others were denied entry to and when accepted had to pay $1,000’s upon $1,000’s to attend. Realize that some of the athletes made it in with academic numbers that would not have come close to being accepted otherwise.<\/p>\n

Paying college football players would be like setting up a welfare system. \u00a0People want money just for showing up. \u00a0As a college ball player, \u00a0they haven’t done anything yet. \u00a0Start putting some money in their hand and there goes some of the motivation on the field and most certainly off of it.<\/p>\n

College is for the grind, \u00a0not for the comfort. \u00a0As long as the student-athletes are comfortable, their mind is off of achieving. \u00a0A full stomach does not make a steadfast hunter and necessity is the mother of invention. \u00a0Make our students and our athletes comfortable and they\u00a0need nothing, \u00a0they invent nothing which would include a post graduate career either as an athlete or other professional. \u00a0The little bit of money thrown the athlete’s way in college or handed to them\u00a0afterwards will run out quick. \u00a0After that, \u00a0they’ll be left with the currency they\u00a0built up during their\u00a0college years which will likely be nothing because they\u00a0were very comfortable.<\/p>\n

College students need to embrace the struggle. The struggle won’t kill them and if they let it, \u00a0it will make them stronger. \u00a0The struggling actress waiting on tables doesn’t make it to the big screen one day by getting a huge cut of the restaurant’s profits. \u00a0That waitress is grinding while she hunts for her opportunity to make it big in film.<\/p>\n

Someone out there is trying to sap the motivation of our young student-athletes. I’m sure welfare was created to help those who couldn’t help themselves. \u00a0Somewhere along the line it morphed into making able people comfortable so they would stop reaching for greatness. Athletes, \u00a0don’t let them do that to your career. If you’re hungry in college, \u00a0grind and hit those books. \u00a0The percentage say you’ll live a better life if you do so.<\/p>\n

College is a proving ground for everyone from the students to the student-athletes. \u00a0It’s not a place for\u00a0you to experience a windfall. If a regular student creates something exceptional like Facebook or Microsoft while in college, they can elect to leave school to focus on that business. Likewise, \u00a0the college football player can leave school early after three years to focus on football. \u00a0The three year wait is necessary as football is a sport that requires a certain amount of physical maturity. \u00a0I’ve heard the argument that regular college students are not providing anything that contributes millions of dollars to the school. \u00a0Oh, did you forget the tuition they’re paying? \u00a0Those numbers at a school like Alabama yield in excess of $770 million per year.<\/p>\n

Young student athletes, your\u00a0decision to attend college on a football scholarship was just that, \u00a0a decision. \u00a0This means you had a choice. \u00a0Our military members put their lives on the line and our government has\u00a0trillions of dollars which many could argue that we waste. \u00a0Anyone up in arms about what they make? \u00a0They get education, medical and other benefits true but there’s no professional athletic career opportunity waiting for them at the end of their service. \u00a0Could the NCAA offer more benefits to their athletes? Perhaps and they may be indeed examining a way to do that while attempting to keep\u00a0a level playing field. \u00a0After all, \u00a0they just announced the revenues a week ago.<\/p>\n

To the athletes, \u00a0grind, hustle and be uncomfortable. That’s what college is for. When you become a pro, \u00a0whether that’s in athletics, business, etc., \u00a0success will taste all the more sweeter. \u00a0Stop counting the NCAA’s money and focus on your plan to get yours with or without the pigskin.<\/p>\n

You want to ruin college football? \u00a0Let’s start paying players.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog Twitter: @GridironStuds The NCAA announced their revenues last week and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[829],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}