Let College Athletes Profit Off Themselves
Apr 6, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; NCAA president Mark Emmert speaks at a press conference before the national championship game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Connecticut Huskies at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
The NCAA is poised to undergo sweeping change in the next few years. The Power 5 Conferences were recently granted more autonomy and Croom Diaries talked about how that might affect baseball scholarships. This past weekend, the Ed O’Bannon trial was ruled on after years of being talked about in the media. The total impact that the decision will have on college athletics won’t be completely known for many months, and possibly years, to come. There are lots of opinions on if college players should be paid or not, so I thought I would put mine out there as well. I think it is high time we let college athletes make money off of themselves.
I am not a huge proponent of college athletes being paid directly by the school. The one thing that can even come close to leveling the playing field in college athletics is the fact that schools can not pay their players. The largest and most profitable schools would obviously be able to pay players more if they were allowed. By not allowing it, players choose their school based on other things like facilities, coaching staffs, and opportunity to succeed. We can always put out there the likelihood that schools bend and even break the rules to lure players to their school. It’s probably true, but at least there measures in place to at least curb that activity. Though I may not be in favor of schools handing out pay checks to their players, I think it is silly we don’t let players profit off of themselves.
I am not a real big fan of Johnny Manziel, but he has been the recent poster child for players trying to make some cash while paying college football. By trying to profit from signing footballs with his autograph, he clearly broke an NCAA rule. The one thing that I don’t understand is why can’t he do so? NCAA athletes are the only people not allowed to make money any way they possibly can. If a player can make some money by signing some footballs, they should be allowed to do so. They should also be allowed to profit when schools and the NCAA use their likeness to make profit off of them.
Many Mississippi State fans are going to buy football jerseys with the number 15 on them in droves this season. We didn’t all fall in love with the number 15 all of a sudden, we are doing it because Dak Prescott will be wearing that jersey. If the school and Adidas are going to rake in all of this money because that is the same jersey Dak wears, he should get a small piece of that pie. If there is a market for Chris Jones to sell footballs with his signature, then he needs to be allowed to do so.
The argument is that all college students can’t receive that luxury. I get that, but since when does our capitalist society not celebrate when someone can use the means they have to make a buck? I say good for them.
There are a lot of wrinkles to iron out in the amateurism discussion now that the O’Bannon ruling has come down. To say that amateurism is dead is long overdue. How we can make college athletics still work is a great discussion to have. There is a very good chance that college athletics will never be the same. I just don’t think it is too much to ask that players be allowed to make a few dollars if everyone else who uses them does it as well.