Its been too long. I apologize. And a real X's and O's post is on its way. I promise. Spoiler alert- its on the passing game (GASP!). Believe it.
Anyways, a lot has been goin on lately in the college football world regarding payments and benefits of athletes. Some are suggesting to just pay the players. I say no.
I am against the straight-up payment of the players. A college education is plenty of payment. You will find plenty of people (many involved in education) that completely oppose giving scholarships to student athletes. I disagree with them, as I believe athletic scholarships reward hard working people and benefit a University. I think the biggest reason people believe these athletes should get paid is because we have this idea that college is a human right and that we need to send as many people to college as possible. Thats an economics rant for another time but as a society we need to debunk this notion that college is for everyone. We accept way too many people into colleges and pay way too much for them. If Joe Schmo can get his education paid for just because he has average grades, what about the person who has the same grades but also dedicates themselves to athletics? Common sense would suggest that the person in athletics be rewarded with more than the other. Im suggesting that we need to reward average people less. If there weren't so many grants for minimal accomplishments (if they can even be called that), a college education would be accepted as sufficient payment for athletic participation. It should be. A college education should be a valuable tool and an investment. Having one paid for should be a big deal.
Those that do endorse the payment of players- how much will they get paid? what will it be based on? position? skill? touchdowns? wins? Are all schools going to have different amounts or will there be a cap? will there be revenue sharing or will the big universities have an even bigger edge over recruiting because they can pay players more? do field hockey, golf, or tennis players get paid?
I love college football. And i have been a Texas football fan for a long time. Allowing the universities to pay the players would make Texas an absolute powerhouse (no other program currently generates as much $). Yet I am still strongly opposed to this concept as it would ruin competitive college football as we know it. It would be just like the days before scholarship limits where the Texas', Alabamas, Michigans, and Florida states of the world would merely outbid the Boise States, Northern Illinois', and Hawaiis of the world. It would resemble the MLB and the NBA but much, much worse. The recruiting world is a damn circus now! it would be an absolute nightmare if monetary bidding was involved (more than it apparently already is...)
I see it only leading to much worse problems than we already have now.
Disclaimer- this is the least amount of time i have put into a post. Sorry if it sucks. I hope I at least gave some food for thought. Even if it was value menu. I am going to publish this post now but I will probably fiddle with it and add new things to it as I go since I will most likely never be content with what I have written here.
So feel free to leave your 2 cents in the comment section, the collection basket at church, or in a street performer's hat. But not in the hands of a student-athlete.
