SEC: Mizzou's Gary Pinkel Favors Paying College Football Players

One of the hottest topics of the 2013 college football season has been attempting to settle what many people associated with the game believe to be an injustice. Should college players be paid for playing the game?

Many fans and pundits have offered their opinions, while players, coaches and those associated with the game have largely taken a stand-back approach.

You can now throw Gary Pinkel’s name into the hat of those who have spoken out on the issue.

A video released on GaryPinkel.com shows Pinkel being direct about the issue.

“I changed my view on this over the last few years,” Pinkel said in a well-spoken sit down. “Our players are getting rewards with books and tuition, which is fine—that’s helping them get their education which is important—but I also think that we can give them additional money per semester or per quarter to help them in paying back for all their sacrifices.”

Pinkel’s view has changed as the game has changed off the field, showing he is a dynamic coach who isn’t too stubborn to rethink stances and stay on the cutting edge of priorities with regard to player concerns.

“Back in the day, players would get summer jobs and wouldn’t work out year-round. Our players work out year-round.”

The game has certainly changed and has brought the subject of playing players squarely into the limelight. But several questions remain, including the biggest one…how much?

Would a player like Johnny Manziel make the same amount of money as a third-string offensive left guard at Toledo? Both players are FBS players and would play in the same game (BCS National Championship Game) for the championship of their division.

Also, what would happen to a player who got injured? What if you couldn’t play in half of a game? How exactly would a pay scale be structured? Pinkel spoke about the final plan, whatever it is, being fair in the end.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it as long as it’s done with clarity and an understanding that we’re trying to help the kids, but we also don’t want to make it ridiculous,” Pinkel said.

For years, players’ images and likenesses have been used to sell popular products like video games and apparel. The days of college football being viewed as a simple little game is over, as the whole system is now a multi-million dollar business.

With the players putting so much of their time in and risking injury that could not only jeopardize an NFL career but many other types of jobs in the American workforce, it seems like there won’t be an end to this issue until there’s a solution on paper.

Follow Dan Irwin on Twitter @danirwinsports or on Facebook.