Pay to Play: If Rob Blagojevich Ran the NCAA

Paying college students to play.

It’s hard to believe that such a thought is now on the mind of college football’s ruling bodies.

How did this come about? This seemingly intensified greed which has taken a hold of the NCAA? All because players simply cannot play, they have to steal laptops, get tattoos and sell jerseys.

Why? Because they are allowed to run wild, they are allowed to believe that they live beyond the average college student. That because they can run fast, swim fast, throw a football or dunk a basketball, they should be entitled the right not only to represent a school but get paid for it too.

College is a tough expense to come by and many students who aren’t athletes consider colleges based on cost. Let me repeat that, not on academic reputation but solely on cost.

Sometimes students go to a college based on the academic reputation, and they may obtain scholarships or grants to help the cost, but the rest is covered by student loans and family contribution.

These students take themselves to heightened levels of fiscal responsibility and most deal with the hardship of not being able to enjoy the comforts that they felt while still living under their parents roof.

These students sacrifice, save and mature themselves through this process, and out of it comes adults ready for the real world.

NCAA athletes seemly believe that they should live above this rule, that they should go to an expensive school and get paid to go there, all because their time is taken up by their sport.

As if a valedictorians time is not taken up by studying, researching or writing.

As if a first generation college student’s time is not taken up trying to achieve a 3.5 GPA so he/she can renew a scholarship.

Sure, college kids work on campus to get some money, and they use that money to fund their education. They need to work because they need to pay for college.

And it’s not like these students are getting paid in billions, they are only making around $2,000.

But what about a student-athlete, most of them don’t get full tuition scholarships, how do they pay for college?

The same way everyone else does, and if your family cannot afford the college, then don’t go there. Why should scholars have to sacrifice while athletes ride the gravy train?

And if an athlete wants money right at the moment, well then maybe he or she should consider why they are playing the sport in the first place—for an education or for money?

And if it is for the latter, maybe he or she should sacrifice, like everyone else, and get a job instead of playing a sport.

And if a student-athlete wants an agent, they should realize one thing, one very important thing. An agent isn’t interested in you, they are interested in your money.