An Open Letter to Kain Colter

[Landlord]

Dear Mr. Colter and anyone else this might apply to,

 

 

 

I've got to admit I am frustrated. For a lot of different reasons. But before I explain why, let me just say that I don't know you personally, and I am going to try and keep that in mind and write this letter towards an idea and mindset that I think is possessed by a lot of people in your position, rather than writing it to you specifically (if it applies to you, then it does).

 

Yesterday you found success in being declared employees of Northwestern rather than just simply a student, and as such, now have the right to unionize. Now, I know you have been on record stating that for you personally, this is not an attempt towards more compensation, and for that I say good on you, if you really mean it. But I hope you realize that you have opened Pandora's box, and you have no control over what happens after you. Please don't misunderstand me, I think the requests you've laid forth are reasonable, and I also think that exploitation of college athletes is most definitely a reality and that collegiate athletics, in general, have strayed very far from the ideals they were created with, and are in a rough place. Because of greed. With that in mind, I have one genuine, key question towards this movement:

 

 

Where does it stop?

 

 

You have just tapped the wheel into motion and we are now heading down an uncharted slope. Like I said, if these accusations don't apply to you personally then I am not placing them on you, but I think we can be straightforward and admit that they exist in the hearts of tons of college athletes. But that concerns me. Because the same way that Martin Luther King Jr. said that hate cannot drive out hate, don't you think the same is true that greed can not drive out greed? Listen, I agree that things need to change. But we got to where we are today because of greed - greed of the schools, greed of the athletic departments, greed of the conferences, greed of the television networks. But you are going to ruin the sport you love if you counter that greed with your own. Here's what I mean:

 

As a football player at Northwestern, you are on full ride scholarship which translates out to roughly $65,000 a year. With nothing else, being a student-athlete, you are already receiving compensation that puts you in the top 3% in the entire country. As a full-time working adult, I don't make half that much. Now please, if you are reading, this is the part I want you to pay attention to.

 

In addition to that, you are likely also eligible for a Pell Grant, another $5,500 per year. In addition to that, if you receive a Pell Grant, you are also eligible for a $500 clothing allowance per year. In addition to that, your athletic department has a Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund, for anynon-scholarship expense that you can't pay for, such as gas in your car, a plane ticket home, etc. In addition to that, you also have access to a Special Assistance fund, which requests additional financial aid for similar special financial needs that you might have (since you do not have the available time to have a job outside of football). In addition to that, you likely live off-campus, right? Your scholarship gives you $13,862 towards room and board - but if you get an apartment with your teammates and pay $400 a rent in month, that is only $4,800 for the year. That leaves you with a $9,000 difference left in cash for you to use as you choose.

 

So, by my admittedly non-scientific math, being a football player at Northwestern earns you roughly $80,000 per year in compensation, untaxed. You receive over $10,000 in extra income that does not go towards any necessity living costs, and does not include anything you might get from the Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund or the Special Assistance Fund.

 

Still though, that's not the whole picture, is it? That does not take into account your access to tutors, personal trainers, nutritionists, athletic facilities, professional training, dozens of pairs of shirts, hoodies, sweatpants, shoes, backpacks, etc. It also doesn't take into account the trips that you get to take across the country all-expenses paid, the bowl game prize packages, the iPad in your locker, the free tickets for family members. It also doesn't take into account the non-quantifiable perks of being an athlete - the notoriety, the never having to pay for a beer wherever you go, the attention and praise, those sorts of things.

 

Can we just call a spade a spade here?

 

 

 

Within the college landscape, Mr. Colter, you are the most privileged, fortunate and benefited demographic that exists in the entire world. No other student demographic comes even close to the same amount of fortune that you possess. So again, my question, when does it stop?

 

 

 

For you it might stop at fair medical compensation and the right to have a voice in certain areas of your life as a student-athlete. I am okay with that by all means. But for who comes after you, that might be enough and it might stop at a percentage of jersey sales. For the players after them, that won't be enough and it will only stop at being compensated for any special attention they get on ESPN, and so on and so on and so on. The rich get richer. Literally this morning, one day after your victory, somebody on ESPN radio mentioned the idea of commercial sponsorship. Less than 24 hours in and we are already going down this road.

 

Have I mentioned that I am worried? I am worried for the walk-ons and the non-contributors who might get left in the dust, since the NLRB ruled in your favor primarily because of what you are producing for the university, so how long until the people that aren't producing get axed? If the basis of your right to unionize are founded in the revenue you are producing, then you are leaving your fellow student athletes behind and only looking out for yourself. I'm worried for the tennis players, that put in just as much work as you do, but don't happen to make the university millions. I'm worred for the Division II schools that don't have the funds and those athletes that don't stand a chance. I am worried.... I'm worried that you've taken the first step in creating a monster that will finish devouring what is left of something that I, you, and millions of other people love.

 

So I write all of this to say, I think this is the wrong approach. I really, sincerely, genuinely and passionately believe that this is not the solution. Your sport is being corrupted by greed, but that is hardly unique to NCAA football. This is an epidemic of our entire country - do not think you are the only ones that are not being fairly compensated compared to what the people above you are earning from your work; that is happening everywhere as the CEO's continue to go higher while the middle class continues to fall. Yes, the gap is unfair. But the solution is not for you to take and take and take more when you are already given so much and your fellow student-athletes, or your fellow students, don't even compare. The solution is to take the money away from who you are trying to chase. The solution is no more multi-million dollar coaching salaries and billion dollar TV contracts and several-hundred dollar tickets.

 

I'm writing this to plead with you to yes, take a stand against this, but take a stand in a way that rights the ship. Take a stand against being exploited but take it by locking arms with your school and your coaches in unison, not by undermining them. Don't take a stand in a way that only says, "Well since it's broken, I might as well get mine." This is so much bigger than you, and if things keep going in this direction, you, or who you represent, will end up losing. You will either lose by having your strongarm tactic reciprocated and your scholarship and perks taxed and revoked, or you will lose by dealing the final blow to a cracking dam, taking your alma mater and your future teammates down in the flood.

 

Sincerely,

A concerned fan.

[BigRedBuster]

I hate to say it but I can't disagree with anything you wrote.

[Count 'Bility]

Landlords a genuis Buster. He took everything we agreed on in the other thread, and expanded on it into great detail, and provided numbers to back it up.

[husker B-rent]

I'm just happy the guy didn't end up committing here. Don't agree with this crap.

[NUpolo8]

Two easy ways this can end.

 

-The Northwestern football team gets it's bluff called really quickly. Go on strike, and don't have a football team.

 

-these kids take their $63,000 or whatever and find out about the tax man really quickly.

[The Dude]

Kids today.

[Morrison]

Post of the year.

[icedavis]

+1 Landlord. Sadly, in a world where everyone is out to get theirs (deserving or not) It's never going to be enough.

 

Student Athletes have families to feed too. Latrell Sprewell agrees.

[Landlord]

+1 Landlord. Sadly, in a world where everyone is out to get theirs (deserving or not) It's never going to be enough.

 

Student Athletes have families to feed too. Latrell Sprewell agrees.

 

 

He's just mad that nobody bought his spinner rim DaDa shoes. Except the idiot kids down the street from me.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Very nicely put, Landlord. I'd add that, if this was simply about ensuring that injured athletes don't have their scholarships revoked, then a solution could have been forged in a way that doesn't involve unionizing and being considered employees.

 

With regards to Division II schools not being able to stay afloat--most Division I programs, I believe all but 6, have to rely on government subsidiaries in order to turn a little bit of profit. You can see where this is going: less revenue (because some of this original revenue could potentially go to student athletes) means higher subsidiaries. It's going to come to a point where college football isn't seen as a profitable venture by any university. Heck, it's hardly profitable for most as things currently stand.

 

There is no doubt in my mind that athletes contribute a significant amount of their lives to the university. But, I have to wonder, didn't they know that this was going to be before they entered college? I guess it's a perspective I don't have--I can't speak from experience.

 

But, to empathize for a second: if I were a football player, I'd probably be playing football for Whatever University for one of two reasons. First, I know I don't stand a much of a chance at the NFL, but free education would allow me to leave college debt free with a degree that leads to a potential career (Sean Fisher, anyone?). Or, I know I stand a good chance at getting to the NFL, so I'm incredibly thankful for the notoriety, training, and nutritionists that allow me to stay NFL-caliber; and the education that allows me to play every Saturday.

 

The way I see it, it really comes down to choice. If you want an education and love playing football, there are going to come times when those two values conflict (and the fact that those values even conflict with each other is a sad reality), and you're going to have to choose one or the other. So I think it comes down to the coaching staff of every school to find a way where a student-athlete can play the sport he or she loves, but still make time for an education that they care about. I think Shavon Shields is a microbiology major, which undoubtedly interferes with basketball at points in the season. I think there came a week or two during the season where he had a major exam in one of his classes and Tim worked something out with him so that he could practice and still find time to study.

 

It might not have been their intention to lead college athletics down the road to "professionalism." Then again, Karl Marx never called himself a Communist.

[zoogs]

An outstanding summary BXII.

[BigRedBuster]

My daughter is a senior this year and was told that there was a good chance she could play small college volleyball. After thinking about it, unless she got a full ride scholarship, she didn't want to do it due to the time it would take away from academics. NOW, if she would have been offered a full ride, she would have seriously considered it for the sole purpose of getting her education paid for. Ultimately, she got an academic scholarship to pay for most of it so she didn't see the value in playing college sports.

 

I don't understand a kid who gets a full ride to play the game he obviously loves to play and then be upset that he isn't getting paid more.

 

Another thing that I heard on the radio this morning is a comment that these schools are making huge amounts of money that help build facilities for both athletics and academics. Hmmmm....as has been stated before, most football programs don't make money without some type of subsidy. So.....after all expenses are paid, how are most schools making huge amounts of money off of these sports?

 

In any business, you can't just look at the dollars of revenue you are producing and puff your chest out. You also have to put the expenses up against it and if there is a lot left...THEN you can puff your chest out. Last I knew, the school still needed huge amounts of donations to build all those fancy buildings that the athletes love.

[Count 'Bility]

My daughter is a senior this year and was told that there was a good chance she could play small college volleyball. After thinking about it, unless she got a full ride scholarship, she didn't want to do it due to the time it would take away from academics. NOW, if she would have been offered a full ride, she would have seriously considered it for the sole purpose of getting her education paid for. Ultimately, she got an academic scholarship to pay for most of it so she didn't see the value in playing college sports.

 

I don't understand a kid who gets a full ride to play the game he obviously loves to play and then be upset that he isn't getting paid more.

 

Another thing that I heard on the radio this morning is a comment that these schools are making huge amounts of money that help build facilities for both athletics and academics. Hmmmm....as has been stated before, most football programs don't make money without some type of subsidy. So.....after all expenses are paid, how are most schools making huge amounts of money off of these sports?

 

In any business, you can't just look at the dollars of revenue you are producing and puff your chest out. You also have to put the expenses up against it and if there is a lot left...THEN you can puff your chest out. Last I knew, the school still needed huge amounts of donations to build all those fancy buildings that the athletes love.

And who is it that gets to use such academic and athletic facilities?

 

See, this is where I stand as well. To me there's just an abundance of hypocrisy in this whole. No one's making money in this day and age. Any dime made is getting spent and reinvested.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Excellent point, and it's another thing to consider:

 

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that college athletes are, in a boiled down sense, the reason we watch and attend games. Those two, along with merchandizing and concessions, generate a huge amount of revenue, which those college athletes should see something of.

 

And they do. The nutrition, the tutors, the education, the professional training, the facilities, the hoodies, backpacks, and clothing that athletes have the luxury of receiving--all of that, costs money. But that's not good enough? Like, this is stuff that should be expected? That's the part that gets me.

 

In the end, I think student-athletes should be aware of a very simple statement: Fans (and thus the money) don't exist without college athletes, but college athletes don't exist without the fans (and thus the money). All of this could be gone in a moment. Then what?

[zoogs]

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that college athletes are,

 

We wouldn't know a single one of their names if they didn't wear our school colors.