Majoring in Sports: A Case to Pay the Players

In today’s big time college athletics, there seems to be a thin, blurry line between what’s right and wrong, between what’s accepted and what’s frowned upon.

With all the money flowing into big time sports programs these days it has created a dangerous culture. There is a win-first attitude where athletics takes precedence over academics for these “student” athletes.

So I simply want to ask why have all the clout and the double standards? Why not simply let these players sign contracts with a school and treat the sport they play as their jobs?

It would save us all the trouble of dancing around this notion of what a “student athlete” really is. The fudged SAT scores, the tutors, the test takers, all of this to keep a player eligible is not necessary.

This would only work in the major sports, the moneymakers, football and men’s basketball. It would only work in the six power conferences (Big East, Big Ten, Big Twelve, Pac 10, SEC, and ACC).

You may be asking yourself well why should these sports and conferences be treated differently and held to a different standard then the rest of college athletics.

The simple reason is because they are on a different level and they should be treated as such. These are the conferences with multimillion dollar TV contracts, these are the schools with 90,000-seat stadiums and they need be treated accordingly.

At this point these sports are on a level of pro sports. They are billion-dollar industries. At these top schools there is football, men’s basketball and then everyone else.

The argument recently over whether we should pay these players is a good one because there are valid points to be made on both sides.

Those for it say, look at the money that these teams generate for a school on a yearly basis. Those against it say, well, these kids are getting a free education.

I say get rid of the scholarships and just pay the players and let them come to a school to play as their jobs. Let them be employees of the school not students.

Instead of giving these guys $30,000 a year to go to school simply pay them a salary of $30,000 plus other incentives. The reason pretty much all of these players choose to play where they play is based on athletics not academics.

To most players, the school part of the equation is an afterthought. They go to class simply because they have to stay eligible.

Many schools still prescribe to the “jock majors” theory of letting their players take the easiest majors and clusters of classes in order to stay eligible.

It really is a farce. Coaches may say that getting these kids an education is the top priority, but it’s not. Keeping them eligible is the top priority.

If they want to have an education while they are playing, then that’s great, more power to them. Let them work to being accepted and paying their way just like everyone else.

They would have jobs just like most other students do and they can try and balance it out. Stop forcing school upon these athletes when you can tell most of them don’t want it.

They simply want to play and they should be rewarded for playing and bringing in money for the schools with contracts for their skills. There are some players who want an education and some that just want to play.

The fact is many of these young men (not all but many) would not be accepted into the schools they play for based on their academic prowess and achievements. Florida, USC, Miami and most of these top schools all have pretty stringent academic standards.

If you take a look at the grades of many of these top recruits and factored out what they bring to the table from an athletic standpoint, there is simply no way they get accepted.

That’s not to say there aren’t top prospects who are very bright. It’s just saying that they are in the minority.

The administration and acceptance boards look the other way when it comes to football and basketball players. It’s not something that’s hidden or covered up.

It’s the truth and everybody accepts it. The schools know the simple fact that the Best team possible = Most money for the school.

When a coach is pitching his school to a recruit you can bet academics aren’t the first part of the conversation. It’s come to my school and you can play in a huge stadium in front of great fans and play on ESPN.

It’s come to my school and you can have a chance to get to the NFL. Later on in the conversation is when academics are brought up because that’s what the parents are focused on.

So if an athlete has pro aspirations, let that athlete focus on what they want to do in life, become a professional athlete. You may say but the chances are so slim of making it to the pros. Ok, well that’s life.

Some people have dreams of being a dentist. They go to dental school and learn that they just don’t have what it takes and aren’t cut out for being a dentist. That is life. That is reality.

High school graduates choose schools because they have a great Communications program or a great Journalism program. I say let a person choose a school because they have a great football or basketball program. That is pretty much the case already. 

A lot of the top recruits choose the schools they do based on who they think can get them to the pros because that is what their dreams are. They know what they are good at and they know the skills they have been blessed with to succeed in this world.

Some people are born with traits to be a great writer, some people are born with traits to be a great engineer, and some people are born with traits to be a great athlete. Let those players use their traits without interference!

I know this will sound wrong to some but so be it: There have been great players in the past who have had school get in the way of their professional futures. They were great talents who flunked out and then got lost in the shuffle.

Why not let these young men spend their time training to become the best athlete they can be instead of forcing them to go to school when they don’t want to.

Let them learn football if they want to be football players; let them learn basketball if they want to be basketball players.

Take the case of Brandon Jennings recently. Here is a young man who knew he was blessed with a tremendous talent in a certain area, basketball. He knew he could use that talent to become a professional one day.

So he did what any sensible person would do and spent his time honing his skills and becoming the best he could be.

Why go to school and learn about French literature in the 1800s when you could be out playing against quality competition and preparing yourself for what you want to be in life.

So in the end we have to realize where these sports, College Football and Men's Basketball, have grown to. It’s big business now. These are no longer “amateur” sports. You have coaches making millions of dollars while there players are given about 300 dollars a week to survive on.

Between sports and school, these players have no time for jobs. So it’s simple; let's make the sports their jobs. Reward them with a salary they need, not with an education they don’t want. It’s sad to say, but I think we should take the school part out if it.

Would there be holes in this system? Sure. Recruiting would probably be a little sleazier but in general recruiting is already pretty sleazy. There is something off-putting and disconcerting about a grown man stalking a high school boy day and night anyways.

Look at the system we have in place presently and take note of all the holes and flaws in that. The eligibility standards, the money, there is just disparity in so many different ways within all of this right now.

We watch these young men for our entertainment so let’s reward them for giving it to us. Let’s stop with the absurdity of the term “student-athlete.” It really no longer exists at these big time programs. Pay the players.

Reward them for bringing in money to the school by giving them a salary and also a chance to showcase their talent for the Professional leagues to see.

I see so many players every year with families to support that make the unwise decision to jump to the Pros and they never make it. In the end they never finished school anyway so it was basically all a wash.

They helped bring in money for the school and never saw a cent and don’t even have a degree to show for it. Let’s stop that. Let’s stop the nonsense.

These players deserve a cut and our society deserves to stop being mocked by being told these players are students. They are not. They are there to play, so let's let them play without having to worry about the grey line of were sports and school meet.