Amateurism in College Sports: An Oxymoron, But Who's to Blame?

September cannot get here soon enough. The past few offseasons in college football have been filled with controversial stories and events involving college football players and their "violating" actions that are hindering the state of their athletic programs.

We've seen Jim Tressel, one of the most genuine and endearing figures in sports during the past two decades, lose his seemingly secure job at The Ohio State University as the Buckeyes head football coach.

Why? Because he knew and failed to report that his players were receiving benefits...or as I like to call, cold hard cash.

Star players like Terrelle Pryor, Devier Posey, and Dan "Boom" Herron were reportedly receiving free tattoos in exchange for certain memorobilia as well.

We've seen instances at other schools where players have gotten in heaps of trouble for meeting with agents and receiving benefits on recruiting trips.

Whether the universities are involved or not is a big area of concern, and the NCAA should absolutely punish schools if members of staff are directly or indirectly involved with scandalous actions between players, recruiters, coaches, and agents.

But there is an innocent branch on the tree of college football's realm of crackdowns and policies that is heavily skewed and sickening to think about.

Now, don't slap me down because I'm biased and using this as an example, but the A.J. Green situation last year really surfaced as a major issue in college athletics.

Green was penalized for selling one of his game worn jerseys. That's it, that's all he did. He made a nice sum of money out of the sale, and reportedly sold it to an agent. That action eventually cost him four games. Now, I don't feel bad for Green anymore. He elected to skip his senior season at the University of Georgia to enter the NFL Draft, where he was selected in the top ten (needless to say, he's going to be one rich man).

But, Green, like many players who've been put under fire, was somewhat demonized for it. The average person, and probably most average sports fans, may not know that A.J. was always a stand up guy who prioritized his grades in school and worked hard.

When he elected to enter this year's draft, Georgia fans themselves called Green a "hypocrite" and "another man with his own agenda who didn't give a hoot about the "Bulldawg Nation."

Well, no kidding!

We wonder why so many players get out of school as soon as they can, and the early pro entry option ultimately creates this worldwide perception that college football players aren't actually "student athletes" because they rarely don the cap and gown before the NFL Equipment shield.

The fact is that the college football landscape can be a limbo, and a disturbing one, for the players in it. No matter how much the pageantry of Saturday football might be cherished by a player, it's also an extremely friendly decision to make the step to the professional level as soon as possible.

This is because the "amateur" level is full of issues that are undeniable. And that amateur level starts very quickly. 

The business that surrounds not only college football, but the recruitment and idolization of amateur athletes can be rough to observe under a microscope, and has even been compared to, well, slavery.

Terrelle Pryor's attorney told ESPN just that, saying that the way the NCAA treats players is similar to slavery. Where was his attorney in the wrong? Well, Pryor was driving a Nissan 350 Z to practice. Slaves didn't get to take the horse and carriage to a nice dinner downtown.

His attorney was making a sad attempt to excuse Pryor's decisions.

But, if you really think about it, many of these athletes come from tough backgrounds.

They get to school as college students, but also have to carry the load of working around the clock at their respective sport. In most sports at the college level, the players are usually unheard of outside of the locale and don't feel much pressure.

I see this at Kennesaw State University, where most athletes, still competing at the D1 level, aren't even known in their own school by their peers.

But, what happens when you are a 17-year-old kid who's about to be the anchor and subject of a multi-billion dollar business? What happens when you are being dubbed "the savior" of So-and-So University before you even have a drivers license? What happens if you're being pressured to attend dinners with creepy, suit-wearing, money-wielding, middle-aged men before you even take your date to prom?

So many kids go through this. So many of them are put under an unbelievably intense amount of pressure before they even graduate from high school. Their success and/or failure will be documented and micro-analyzed during a 10 minute segment on ESPN, one of the most watched TV networks in the world, every day.

Sounds like a tough job. Sounds like the same amount of pressure felt by the U.S. President. 

But, here's the kicker: The school isn't going to pay you a dime.

The industry is also going to put your face on television, magazines, website headliners, and make billions of dollars doing so.

Sick? Yeah, kind of. Is it slavery? My main argument is no, mainly because these players do in fact choose to go through the gauntlet.

But, once they get there, it's a point of no return that can really put the wear and tear on the minds and judgements of a young player.

Affording college is hard enough, but I've made my ends meet by working jobs at various places for the past four years. I've been pretty darn independent and rarely ask my parents for cash. Of course, the loans that I've taken are going to kick my butt.

But these players are in a dire financial situation when they embark on these journeys. Many stellar athletes come from poor backgrounds...we can't deny that.

On top of that, these athletes don't have time to work for money. While Average Joe is working at the bookstore or coffee shop to get cash, Mr. Football Player is busting his tail to become a viable product on the field...for free.

The issue here is the fact that these players are the centerpiece of the business. Scout.com, Rivals.com, ESPN Recruiting, ESPN, CBS Sports, etc. would not exist without their 18-22 year olds running around the fields.

So much revenue is created through these mediums, but none of it is returned to the players. Now, the opposition could argue that the players are working towards multi-million dollar NFL careers, so it all pans out, right?

The average NFL career is just three years, and only a tiny fraction of these college athletes get the opportunity to even be on an NFL roster.

How do you get on an NFL roster? Be the best. You are under the most pressure out of anyone...you are under the most pressure to leave school and reach for that check.

But, the College Football world is just as much of a rich industry as the NFL—that's the problem. That's what makes it sick.

What about the players who work hard in class and on the field but never make it to the NFL? You could be the centerpiece of your University's football team for two years, fall off the map, and never make it to the professional level.

And for those two years, you get nothing from it. This is why so many players, especially from these tough backgrounds, are so quick to fight their conscience and take benefits.

This is why scouts and agents are so powerful.

These agents are using the popularity and value of a player (created by the media) to reel in big names, make money for themselves and the player, and create dishonorable relationships that hinder the development of the player.

South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Steve Spurrier made a rather generous and interesting proposal, saying that he would sacrifice a portion of his own salary to pay players $300 per game. That would be a significant amount of pocket money, enough for players to spend their three to four years in school with some financial comfort.

Most shrugged off the concept with a laugh, but good Gold almighty do I have more respect for Spurrier (the most hated man in Athens).

A player seeking money has been seen as an "okay" thing by fans but has been heavily criticized and condemned by the NCAA and the Universities.

If players receive a base pay out of the coaching salary, (as long as it is a standardized and non-excessive or increasing amount), players could get the benefit of having some cash WITHOUT disturbing the amateurism of the sport.

But if players are forced to keep going under the table in order to receive money, then they will always end up tied to a manipulative agent who is operating in a manipulative business.

Maybe the superstar players would still lean the wrong way, but we could at least punish them all and set an example that none of that nonsense should be tolerated.

Under the current system, how can we can classify reaching for money as nonsense when the players receive nothing in return for their output? It's not the players that are to blame...it's the system.