Spurrier proposes colleges pay their professional football players
by orientalnc on Jun 2, 2011 1:34 PM EDT
in Georgia Tech Football
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PrintSteve Spurrier made a proposal at the SEC coaches meeting to pay players $300 per game for "expenses." You can read the ajc article here. Not everyone agrees, so it will not likely be done anytime soon. However, this type of idea sets me off on a rant every time I hear a coach speak out "for the players."
The SEC has turned college football into a professional sport in every way except for the payments Spurrier proposed. Why not go ahead and do that as well? And, while you are doing it, why not pay the guys what they are actually worth? If a substitute tight end is worth $300, what is an All-SEC running back worth? Would a limo and first class airline tickets be considered valid expenses? What about a nice hotel room for mom? And dinner at a nice place, not some drive-in joint with greasy chili dogs.
This would be a great opportunity to actually make the college game fairer for the players. How about a contract that guaranteed their scholarship for the full four years (or five) instead of the one-year deal they get now? I think CPJ has it right when he says the players are not served by over-signing, but he is a lone voice. The SEC is about winning and no obstacle to that goal is acceptable .
And, while I am on a rant about Spurrier, just how many people are surprised that he is now saying Stephen Garcia is a changed man and should be allowed back on the Gamecocks 2011 team? If he were a changed third team QB would Coach be so willing to let bygones be gone bye bye? I bet not. The hypocrisy of college football sometimes makes me ill.
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How about
Instead of paying the players, you give them a free education instead?
Don't give up, don't ever give up ~ Jim Valvano
No one is interested in that
Except for those without ridiculous athletic talent.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
It bothers me
That no one seems to be taking this into account. Student athletes get paid a ton with scholarships. At GT an out of state student would pay over $13,000 a semester just for tuition. And Athletes get more then just that, they get housing, books and most meals. In my opinion they are compensated nicely for everything except their image on NCAA Football. Which is something that the NCAA need to work out.
Spurrier proposes colleges pay their professional football players
Technically they are amateur football players because they are not getting paid.
I'd disagree with that definition
These guys may not be getting paid for it, but it is their livelyhood. Their performance dictates their future. This isn’t a hobby to them that they are doing for fun nor something that they all decided to do on Saturdays for the social aspect. These guys train most days of the week, if not every day, to perform for roughly a three hour period once a week. Nothing about what they do is amateur in execution or definition.
In fact, I’d argue that they are indeed getting paid, paid a service for a service. They are receiving a scholarship, which itself is a form of payment, for their services to the team and the university. They are getting that scholarship for free. It can be revoked just as easily as a company firing an employee.
Now, whether these guys take advantage of the scholarship or not is completely separate, but nothing about this can be classified as amateur in my opinion.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
I think your twisting the meaning of amateur right now.
Amateur means that they are not getting paid for what they are doing. If they got paid by whoever then they would be considered professionals and in violation of NCAA rules. I get what you mean by scholarship but that’s not really a salary though.
Also some players are playing football just for fun. Not everyone can make it into the NFL or some other professional league, they just love football.
by RamblinWreck7 on Jun 3, 2011 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't think I am
Amateur – “one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than as a profession.” Of course not all college players will make it into a professional league, NFL or otherwise, but you can’t say that they are not pursuing it in the hopes of making it. The majority are most definitely pursuing the sport as a profession and their scholarship is the payment for their services.
A salary does not make all other forms of payment invalid. There are many ways to get paid for a service and currently these kids are getting paid with a scholarship to play football. No matter which way you slice it, that’s a payment.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
Sorry, my thoughts got cut off and I accidentally hit post
In the end it’s just a matter of opinion I suppose. I don’t want to come across as argumentative as I’m simply debating a possible point of view that I tend to lean toward. It will help to fill the off-season void.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
If they do start paying the football student-athletes, I guess all those folks who claim that college football is better than professional football because the professionals are ‘just playing for the money’ will have to find a new reason to like college over professional. Not that the student-athletes aren’t already well compensated (e.g. tuition, tutors, etc).
I don’t know the rules governing college athletics, but I would think that what you do in one sport has to be done across sports. So I wouldn’t think you could pay just the football players – you have to pay all student-atheltes. But I don’t know if that would be the case or not.
by Dive Keep and Pitch on Jun 3, 2011 8:38 AM EDT reply actions
How about revenue sharing?
Win, get paid more. Lose, get enough for a Coca Cola after the game.
These guys have been getting the Golden Alum handshake for years, just codify it.
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Jun 3, 2011 8:48 AM EDT reply actions
I propose this solution
At the time of signing, each individual is given an option. You can either choose to be paid in full by receiving monetary payment for your service to the university, or you can choose to invest in your long term future by taking a scholarship as your form of payment. If you choose the monetary payment, then you must provide your own way through school and still adhere to all the existing academic rules to maintain eligibility. The individual can take any route that all other students take, grants, other types of scholarships, etc. If you choose to take the scholarship option, then it’s business as usual.
All existing rules around accepting gifts, payments, etc from boosters and such would still apply in either case because I disagree with that regardless of the initial payment decision. All academic rules would still apply because those are core requirements for all members of the university, athlete or not.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
Would this whole idea of paying football student-athletes still be an issue if the NFL got rid of the rule requiring players to be three years removed from high school graduation? Suppose the NFL had some sort of minor league or developmental league?
by Dive Keep and Pitch on Jun 3, 2011 1:30 PM EDT reply actions
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