Players sitting out bowl games

[trents]

I am dead set against able-bodied college players anticipating the NFL draft sitting out bowl games to avoid injury. Like Will Grier. What chance does WVU have without him to win their bowl game? He threw his team under the bus.

I think the universities should make them pay back their scholarships if they do that and I think the NFL should declare them ineligible for the draft for a year.

[jshawaii22]

If they got paid players a decent living while the schools rake in millions, this probably wouldn't happen as they could structure the payments to be after the final game, and only if played. Of course, with Title IX in the way, that will never happen, but it should.

[trents]

I've heard that argument a million times and I just don't buy into it. They are amateur athletes. How much money the university makes because of their participation is irrelevant. The players should be there as students to acquire life skills and income earning skills that may or may not include getting highly paid as a professional athlete. If they are in school only to play football and get exposure that may lead to a professional sports career then they are there for the wrong reason.

[burrrton]

*sigh*

They're not there to "make a living"- they're there to get a free education, and that education leaves non-athletes/non-scholarship-winners with many year's worth of debt (unless Mom and Dad cover it for them).

Could the NCAA relax some of their ridiculous rules? You bet (and they should). Would a stipend of some kind be appropriate so they're not completely broke? You bet.

However, they're free to come away from 4 years of playing a damn sport with a college degree and no debt. Let's quit pretending they're exploited victims of a cruel system.

[obiken]

Okay, but lets pay them 3,000 a month stipend to play College Football. They are just a commodity in a Billion dollar sport, and most do not go on to the NFL. They are not exploited but try to play CFB and also get a degree, very few do; so lets stop pretending that big time college FB is anything but a money factory.

[RiverDog]

If they got paid players a decent living while the schools rake in millions, this probably wouldn't happen as they could structure the payments to be after the final game, and only if played. Of course, with Title IX in the way, that will never happen, but it should.

I disagree. The average student graduates with just under $40,000 worth of debt. These kids get to attend virtually for free, plus a handful get a chance to make millions. Besides, if you pay them, why not pay all of the student athletes? Why shouldn't the cross country team derive the same benefit as the football or men's basketball teams do?

Additionally, not every college makes money. Sure, Texas, Ohio State, and perhaps another 20 or so of the 120 or so FBS schools make money. But not the Washington States and and Iowa States. The vast majority of FBS schools lose money on football.

[jshawaii22]

I've heard that argument a million times and I just don't buy into it. They are amateur athletes. How much money the university makes because of their participation is irrelevant. The players should be there as students to acquire life skills and income earning skills that may or may not include getting highly paid as a professional athlete. If they are in school only to play football and get exposure that may lead to a professional sports career then they are there for the wrong reason.

What is 'amature' about being able to be paid for what you do? If i was a piano virtuoso or a video game developer or just about anything else while in college, I do a concert or sell my designs and get paid. Why should 'sports' be different than any other talent? You know what, how about the school pays, say a pittance of $250k to play QB for Ohio State and in return, if I choose to be paid-to-play I'll pay for my own college tuition, r&B, books, etc. You can even give them the choice of being paid or a full-ride scholarship. No issue with that.

the NCAA was a white persons club, not the young black kids version of 'how the world should be' that was invented, written and decided on by middle age or older white men probably 100 or so years ago. It is woefully abusive, outdated and should be rewritten.
And why is it that you can't sell or otherwise use your own "Image" or my "talent" and charge for it when said images are used on shirt and hat sales and items like video games and other marketable items and money is brought in via sales? How is this the sole right of a school? The whole system is BS.

[obiken]

I disagree. The average student graduates with just under $40,000 worth of debt. These kids get to attend virtually for free, plus a handful get a chance to make millions. Besides, if you pay them, why not pay all of the student athletes? Why shouldn't the cross country team derive the same benefit as the football or men's basketball teams do?

Thats fine River, we just have a minor difference of opinion on this one. I agree on your last point, can you really with Title 9, Pay FB players a stipend and not the Softball team?

[Hawktawk]

How about an NCAA funded insurance policy to repay any NFL bound athlete their anticipated earnings for their first couple of years as a pro if they are injured in a bowl game? I don't know the exact answer but I understand a top shelf athlete whose body has become a franchise unto itself not wanting to risk hitting the guaranteed lotto to play in one relatively meaningless game.
It's not a choice I would have made had I been that gifted but i understand it.

[NorthHawk]

It's the first of many business decisions they will make along the way in their Football careers.

[RiverDog]

As far as sitting out a bowl game, a player ought to have to pay back the school something, like force them to pay their final year's expenses themselves. It should be like that for missing any games for all non-health related reasons, ie protests or something of that nature.

[idhawkman]

I am dead set against able-bodied college players anticipating the NFL draft sitting out bowl games to avoid injury. Like Will Grier. What chance does WVU have without him to win their bowl game? He threw his team under the bus.

I think the universities should make them pay back their scholarships if they do that and I think the NFL should declare them ineligible for the draft for a year.

I would offer a different idea to this issue. Why not have the universities cover the players with an insurance policy for their projected draft rank? E.g. first round would get covered for $1M for not career ending injuries that take a year or more to heel. Issue a bigger policy for those that are career ending and maybe $50 to $100k for those that are less than a year. e.g. broken arm, etc. Those injuries that are healed by the combine issue no payout. e.g. sprained ankle, concussion, etc.

This way if a player plays in the bowl game and gets injured they have the resources available to get them back to there playing shape. E.g. medical bill plus rehab and training.

[idhawkman]

How about an NCAA funded insurance policy to repay any NFL bound athlete their anticipated earnings for their first couple of years as a pro if they are injured in a bowl game? I don't know the exact answer but I understand a top shelf athlete whose body has become a franchise unto itself not wanting to risk hitting the guaranteed lotto to play in one relatively meaningless game.
It's not a choice I would have made had I been that gifted but i understand it.

Wow, on this we are in sync with a solution HawkTawk.

[burrrton]

the NCAA was a white persons club, not the young black kids version of 'how the world should be' that was invented, written and decided on by middle age or older white men probably 100 or so years ago.

Aaaaaand... there it is.

It is woefully abusive, outdated and should be rewritten.

We should all be so abused.

[edit]

I'm not sure you deserve a serious response after a post like that, but in the spirit of the Holidays:

As I said, the NCAA should relax some of the ridiculous restrictions. If a kid can make some money signing autographs, for chrissakes let him.

But remember: nobody is paying for his autograph because he throws footballs around Uncle Rico style. They're paying for it because he's wearing Crimson and Gray when he throws that football. Nobody is buying tickets solely because Joe Jockstrap will be running around the stadium on Saturday- they're doing it because they support the school. They were buying tickets before he got there and will be doing so long after he's gone.

"If i was a piano virtuoso or a video game developer or just about anything else while in college, I do a concert or sell my designs and get paid."

Piano players and game developers don't need the school's jersey on their back to get anyone to pay attention to them.

[jshawaii22]

It doesn't surprise me that most everyone who has never been in it is OK with the current system, because it has worked to give kids that wouldn't otherwise go to school the opportunity to do so and provided a great minor league to develop professional players.

[burrrton]

It doesn't surprise me that most everyone who has never been in it is OK with the current system, because it has worked to give kids that wouldn't otherwise go to school the opportunity to do so and provided a great minor league to develop professional players.

Who told you I've "never been in it"?

[trents]

They are not a commodity! That's just another way of saying they are a victim. Everybody's a victim these days. I'm tired of hearing that one too.