Paid 2 Play

[COMPTON]

I don't know if many people on the board saw yesterday Kenny Bell, current Nebraska WR going off on Twitter about the concept of being paid to play, it's a topic that has come up countless of times and I've found myself being on both sides of the argument. What are your guys' thoughts on this?

 

Yes? No? Maybe?

[Chaddyboxer]

The only comment I have is....let the kid speak his mind. I see others on other boards getting so butt-hurt about what he said. The kid makes a solid argument and IMO it becomes trivial to continue bickering over it. The reason is.... the powers-to-be are the deciding factor, not the players. I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing the payers paid, but there can be huge financial back-blow to this...ie. having to pay everyone (all athletes from all sports) and the smaller schools suffering to pay players. Even if you pay the players a low-salary, ie. less than 10 grand a year, it can and will harm smaller colleges who can't afford to even keep up with maintaining their athletic program endeavors. Now, if you just single out college football considering it's total revenues are overall, greater than any other college sport in the U.S., smaller schools could and more than likely, will still struggle to pay players. There definitely could be a system put in place, but like any system, it will have it's flaws and others will not like it for various reasons. This is just my two cents.

[RedRedJarvisRedwine]

The only comment I have is....let the kid speak his mind. I see others on other boards getting so butt-hurt about what he said. The kid makes a solid argument and IMO it becomes trivial to continue bickering over it. The reason is.... the powers-to-be are the deciding factor, not the players. I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing the payers paid, but there can be huge financial back-blow to this...ie. having to pay everyone (all athletes from all sports) and the smaller schools suffering to pay players. Even if you pay the players a low-salary, ie. less than 10 grand a year, it can and will harm smaller colleges who can't afford to even keep up with maintaining their athletic program endeavors. Now, if you just single out college football considering it's total revenues are overall, greater than any other college sport in the U.S., smaller schools could and more than likely, will still struggle to pay players. There definitely could be a system put in place, but like any system, it will have it's flaws and others will not like it for various reasons. This is just my two cents.

I'm actually ok with the smaller schools struggling to pay their players. Then maybe they will drop the sport! All big east teams should drop football anyways. And if you can't self sustain paying these kids $1200-$1500 a month for 5 months after the tens of millions these major programs bring in from football then drop the program or make FCS football no pay for play and all the smaller FBS schools drop down a level and run that division like everything is run now, play for schollies!

[NUance]

If I was a college fb player I'd want to be paid. And why not? It'd be less than a half million or so (for the whole team), as compared to many millions in revenue. If smaller schools with crappy programs can't foot the bill, they could simply choose not to pay. It's not like their players will bail out and go to more successful programs. /jmho

[Joe_5700]

No. I know it has been said a million times, but a full ride scholarship, room and board, meals, specialized tutoring etc. is quite a bit of payment in my opinion. Seriously, add all that up over 4 years. How much payment is that? If they want some extra spending money, they can work a few hours part time in the off season. This is amateur athletics, and there should not be any payment involved whatsoever. I race in cycling as an amateur and I do not get paid, nor do I expect to. Sure i am sponsored which entitles me to good discounts/freebies and all that, but I put in 100 times more than I get in return. Why? For the love of the sport. Kenny needs to put his time in at the collegiate level and get drafted in the NFL so that he can get paid.

[Apathy]

Kenny Bell is fortunate to have his schooling paid for once he graduates unlike my wife who has about 180K to pay off for the next 10+ years after earning her Physician's Assistant degree. Hell you think the hospital would at least pay half of it but nope.

 

Kenny Bell has a right to his opinion but there are several thousand other students who have it worse than him.

[Chaddyboxer]

If I was a college fb player I'd want to be paid. And why not? It'd be less than a half million or so (for the whole team), as compared to many millions in revenue. If smaller schools with crappy programs can't foot the bill, they could simply choose not to pay. It's not like their players will bail out and go to more successful programs. /jmho

Common sense would tell ya though man that the paying schools would have the advantage. Money makes the world go 'round as they say....

Hell....if I was a solid recruit being recruited by mediocre schools, some who would fork over the doe to pay me a small salary....I'd take the salary-paying school in a heartbeat. Then again, others may not based on their values, morals, etc. It's a tough argument IMO....

[Chaddyboxer]

Kenny Bell is fortunate to have his schooling paid for once he graduates unlike my wife who has about 180K to pay off for the next 10+ years after earning her Physician's Assistant degree. Hell you think the hospital would at least pay half of it but nope.

 

Kenny Bell has a right to his opinion but there are several thousand other students who have it worse than him.

And you make a great augmentative point as well...many students are so far in debt it is ridiculous. It's a damn blessing to have your college tuition paid for.

[Count 'Bility]

As much as I want to understand Kenny's point of view, I can't. These scholarship players-in all sports-are receiving a free college education, IN FIELD OF THEIR CHOICE NONETHELESS, as a beneficiary of their athletic skills, not to mention the athletic development opportunity to play professionally if a part of one of the major sports. No one has put a gun to their head and forced them to come play for the price of a free education. If they do not like the status quo, then they should find a better situation to be in, but they dont because quite frankly, there isnt one. Throw in the fringe benefits such as popularity and so on, and they have it better than anyone on campus, esp, if a part of the major sports. These players get enough. Sure theyre looking at the big picture and seeing the money the university rakes in from their services, but also have to realize the expenditures an athletic program has. How many programs at Nebraska are consistently self sufficient? 3? 4? And it's against the law to drop the other sports if theyre women's sports.

[Joe_5700]

I also get the athletes side which is "Hey look at all of the money that the university makes because of ME". The thing is, the university has to reinvest that money into facilities and coaching talent that go into to creating that big time college football stage. What a university provides best is an education and that is their currency. On the flipside, can a university ask for payment from a big time NFL star because of the exposure that they provided? It really goes both ways. For me, the priviledge of being able to wear a jersey from a Div1 school would be enough payment in itself, but that's me...

[teachercd]

Quick, who here would take more money if it was offered to them? Another quick question, how many of you would like more money or perks?

 

See, both answers were yes.

 

Take what you can get, when you can get it. Always! Assuming it's legal of course! haha

[teachercd]

Kenny Bell is fortunate to have his schooling paid for once he graduates unlike my wife who has about 180K to pay off for the next 10+ years after earning her Physician's Assistant degree. Hell you think the hospital would at least pay half of it but nope.

 

Kenny Bell has a right to his opinion but there are several thousand other students who have it worse than him.

And you make a great augmentative point as well...many students are so far in debt it is ridiculous. It's a damn blessing to have your college tuition paid for.

 

I kind of agree with this but I kind of disagree. I think blessing might be the wrong word. A kid who gets a full ride for sports or academics generally worked really really really hard. I mean, there are some freaks, academic and athletic, that do not have to do much but for the most part, its tons of work and a huge drive.

[huKSer]

If I was a college fb player I'd want to be paid. And why not? It'd be less than a half million or so (for the whole team), as compared to many millions in revenue. If smaller schools with crappy programs can't foot the bill, they could simply choose not to pay. It's not like their players will bail out and go to more successful programs. /jmho

Common sense would tell ya though man that the paying schools would have the advantage. Money makes the world go 'round as they say....

Hell....if I was a solid recruit being recruited by mediocre schools, some who would fork over the doe to pay me a small salary....I'd take the salary-paying school in a heartbeat. Then again, others may not based on their values, morals, etc. It's a tough argument IMO....

Most of the the time the paying schools ($EC) already tend to get the good student-athlete. Joke aside, a student-athlete has offers from Tosu and Akron, and he picks Tosu. If in the future Tosu pays a stipend and Akron doesn't, he still takes Tosu

[dtbugeater]

If I was a player, I couldn't help but feel a little ripped off when I know the schools are making huge dollars off my work. I think that would be natural. I also think the "but your college is being paid for" thing wouldn't hold a lot of water to me as a college kid. It would probably even feel like a bit of a slap in the face.

 

But as a 33 year old man, who is still paying off student loans (and I am not complaining about that--it just is what it is) the value of what they are getting is a little more apparent to me than what it would have been as a 21 year old. The key would probably be, that you have to be getting something out of your college education for that to really be a value. If you are just taking blow off classes to stay eligible then your college education is really a waste of your time and energy and then you would really feel like you should be getting paid. If you are progressing in a degree that you are passionate about, then it probably feels like more of a value.

 

I obviously don't know Kenny, and am not pretending to know anything about his college. I do appreciate him advocating for what he believes in, and think he did it in a reasonable way.

[Hunter94]

for a scholarship athlete, getting a free education, that may run upwards of $50k per year?........and now we are going to pay him to play sports, besides the free ride?.........hell, we might as well get him a BMW to use while we are at it and maybe a Harley?..........WTF?