College Athletes Should Be Paid 2
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Spencer Crigler Eng 1102 Fran Voltz November 11th, 2013 College Athletes Should be Paid With college athletic programs becoming a multi-million dollar industry in terms of total revenue between ticket pricing, donations, and total winnings, there is plenty of money to share the wealth especially when it comes to their athletes who are single handedly bringing in the money. College athletes are not just sports players, but also full time students. One can only imagine how much time and effort is required in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle between school, work and athletics. College athletes have gained the right to be paid for playing Division I sports because they represent the entire school and the nation as a role model. Student athletes spend countless hours a week training and practicing, and college athletes can bring in large amounts of money for the school. Almost every college in the United States that recognizes division one sports at a high level has one or two athletes that stand out more than the rest because of the things that they do on and off of the field. For example, the exciting young quarterback Johnny Manziel from Texas A&M is highly recognizable. Everyone that watches or plays sports knows about this guy simply because he is the best at what he does. Although he does not make any money, he is still a huge role model to young athletes across America. Manziel is a well-spoken individual that puts his full attention towards football during the season and his dedication shows in the win
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column. It is very clear that this is the case because Manziel was even given a title after his freshmen year called “Johnny Football.” I believe that someone this highly thought about deserves something in return. In an ESPN article, analyst Michael Wilbon, talks about how some college athletes are role models to their school, as well as, many other people that watch the football games. When talking about a soon to be NFL quarterback Andrew Luck, Wilbon says “Players like Andrew Luck, who are the face of their university, deserve to be compensated.” Wilbon hits it on the nose with this statement because think about all the other role models across America, and almost all of them are making millions of dollars when Andrew Luck is not pocketing anything. (Wilbon, “College Athletes Deserve to be Paid”, ESPN) One man that no one can mistake as a role model is Tim Tebow. There has never been any kind of football player like this in terms as someone to look up to. He is a guy that stands above all else when choosing a great role model. (Heizer, Bleacher Report). “Tebow builds orphanages in his birth country of the Philippines, he invites fans with serious diseases to come to games, meet him before and after the game, sit with his parents in the stands, and each child leaves with a signed football and a personalized Bible. (Heizer, Bleacher Report). Tim Tebow never received any form of payment for doing any of this. A college student devoting this much time to be a role model for children and even young adults deserves some form of monetary credit. For any sport whether it is basketball, soccer, track, or football, hours and hours of training is required each day to succeed in college sports. In a recent NCAA study, it was discovered that Division I athletes in programs that are highly acknowledged for their sports, spend on average forty-three hours a week with the team (Wieberg, USAToday). In theory that is roughly six hours a day just practicing. Then one must factor in the total amount of hours spent in classes, which on average students take about fifteen credit hours each semester. Using
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these numbers mathematically and factoring in a good night’s rest of eight hours, this leaves college athletes only about eight hours a day to eat, study, possibly work a part time job, and have a healthy social life. It would be hard enough to fit in the studying part, but to even think about trying to somehow manage a part time job at the same time is nearly impossible. One might argue that the social life could be left out since the college athlete will be spending a lot of time with their team, but a teammate and a friend can be entirely different. Without the possibility of working a part time job it can be very difficult to come up with enough money to live on without having to take out loans. Loans will definitely help the student athlete throughout college, but will leave them in large amounts of debt. Most athletes that continue to pursue their dreams through college have been training and practicing for a specific sport since they were children. All this training can take a major toll on the body, and can lead to painful long term affects such as arthritis or even short term affects that could injure the athlete so drastically that they may never play again. Sheriff Floyd from the University of Florida said “I think we should be paid to play football in college because it’s kind of a real beating on the body.”(Sansevere, TwinCities). To think that all that training may end up not paying off is very demoralizing to many athletes. All those long hours in the gym and countless suicides may never set them up financially. One wrong turn, twist or move could take them out of the sport that these college athletes love and kill all their hopes of making a career of the sport. College athletic programs have grown so much in the past fifteen years that it is hard to believe the kind of money sports are bringing in for the school (especially football). In the mid 1900s, well respected Division I football programs were paying their college coaches around $15,000, now programs such as Oklahoma and Florida are dishing out anywhere from three to
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five million dollars (Doyel, CBSSports). Colleges are able to do this because of the insane amounts of money they are receiving through advertisements, ticketing, merchandise sales, and donations all because of prestigious sport programs. However, it is not possible to have a prestigious sports program without elite athletes that can carry a team to victory. These elite athletes are not getting paid anything. In most cases these athletes are being granted thousands of dollars in scholarships, but they are not being awarded an income. With their hard work showing on the football field they are very deserving of something extra, especially when the school is grossing millions of dollars each year because of the hard work that they put forth (Doyel, CBSSports). This is not fair to the players. “The problem I am trying to solve is the fundamental fairness, running a professional sports organization and I don’t think it’s fair that only one class of people is restricted to their expenses only and nothing more”, said Jay Bilas when talking about college athletes being treated unfair because of the lack of money they receive (Chen, DukeChronicle). Another major point that Bilas talks about is the use of academic advancement for the school. He says “A lot of schools use sports for institutional advancement.” This is entirely true because many schools across the nation that are substantially large usually have a well established sports program. This is in direct effect because of the type of players that the school is recruiting. In 2011, there was a contract signed between the NCAA and CBS Sports that made a deal from 2011 to 2024 for 10.8 billion dollars for March Madness. March Madness for those who are unfamiliar, is approximately three weeks of college basketball that ultimately determines the best basketball team in the nation (Wilbon, “College Athletes Deserve to be Paid”, ESPN). This deal will include all televised events leading up to and including the national championship. Almost 11 billion dollars for three weeks is a ridiculous sum of money that is plenty enough to be spread
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around college athletes. Michael Wilbon believes that the 11 billion dollars that is being handed out for these televised events should be shared among the athletes who are responsible for these hyped up sporting events (Wilbon, “College Athletes Deserve to be Paid”, ESPN). One thing that cannot be disputed is the fact that college athletes have worked extremely hard to get where they are. To make it as far as the collegiate level in athletics, determination, persistence and a lot of time and money on training and practicing. These athletes have been punishing their bodies for years in order to be the very best they can be, however it is not certain that their bodies will last them long enough to make it to the professional level. Some of these athletes will not be able to endure any more pain than they already have and will simply have to leave the sport that they love. Student athletes may not be “good enough,” to play at the professional level even though they shined in their college program. For example, Tim Tebow who was a star at the University of Florida played for two years in the NFL and was just recently cut from the New York Jets roster (Heizer, Bleacher Report). Unfortunately, some of these college athletes that have spent their whole life planning and training for professional sports are going to be left with a college career that made them a national role model, and envying the college program that made millions off of their unrelenting hard work.
Spencer Crigler Eng 1102 Fran Voltz November 11th, 2013 College Athletes Should be Paid With college athletic programs becoming a multi-million dollar industry in terms of total revenue between ticket pricing, donations, and total winnings, there is plenty of money to share the wealth especially when it comes to their athletes who are single handedly bringing in the money. College athletes are not just sports players, but also full time students. One can only imagine how much time and effort is required in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle between school, work and athletics. College athletes have gained the right to be paid for playing Division I sports because they represent the entire school and the nation as a role model. Student athletes spend countless hours a week training and practicing, and college athletes can bring in large amounts of money for the school. Almost every college in the United States that recognizes division one sports at a high level has one or two athletes that stand out more than the rest because of the things that they do on and off of the field. For example, the exciting young quarterback Johnny Manziel from Texas A&M is highly recognizable. Everyone that watches or plays sports knows about this guy simply because he is the best at what he does. Although he does not make any money, he is still a huge role model to young athletes across America. Manziel is a well-spoken individual that puts his full attention towards football during the season and his dedication shows in the win
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column. It is very clear that this is the case because Manziel was even given a title after his freshmen year called “Johnny Football.” I believe that someone this highly thought about deserves something in return. In an ESPN article, analyst Michael Wilbon, talks about how some college athletes are role models to their school, as well as, many other people that watch the football games. When talking about a soon to be NFL quarterback Andrew Luck, Wilbon says “Players like Andrew Luck, who are the face of their university, deserve to be compensated.” Wilbon hits it on the nose with this statement because think about all the other role models across America, and almost all of them are making millions of dollars when Andrew Luck is not pocketing anything. (Wilbon, “College Athletes Deserve to be Paid”, ESPN) One man that no one can mistake as a role model is Tim Tebow. There has never been any kind of football player like this in terms as someone to look up to. He is a guy that stands above all else when choosing a great role model. (Heizer, Bleacher Report). “Tebow builds orphanages in his birth country of the Philippines, he invites fans with serious diseases to come to games, meet him before and after the game, sit with his parents in the stands, and each child leaves with a signed football and a personalized Bible. (Heizer, Bleacher Report). Tim Tebow never received any form of payment for doing any of this. A college student devoting this much time to be a role model for children and even young adults deserves some form of monetary credit. For any sport whether it is basketball, soccer, track, or football, hours and hours of training is required each day to succeed in college sports. In a recent NCAA study, it was discovered that Division I athletes in programs that are highly acknowledged for their sports, spend on average forty-three hours a week with the team (Wieberg, USAToday). In theory that is roughly six hours a day just practicing. Then one must factor in the total amount of hours spent in classes, which on average students take about fifteen credit hours each semester. Using
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these numbers mathematically and factoring in a good night’s rest of eight hours, this leaves college athletes only about eight hours a day to eat, study, possibly work a part time job, and have a healthy social life. It would be hard enough to fit in the studying part, but to even think about trying to somehow manage a part time job at the same time is nearly impossible. One might argue that the social life could be left out since the college athlete will be spending a lot of time with their team, but a teammate and a friend can be entirely different. Without the possibility of working a part time job it can be very difficult to come up with enough money to live on without having to take out loans. Loans will definitely help the student athlete throughout college, but will leave them in large amounts of debt. Most athletes that continue to pursue their dreams through college have been training and practicing for a specific sport since they were children. All this training can take a major toll on the body, and can lead to painful long term affects such as arthritis or even short term affects that could injure the athlete so drastically that they may never play again. Sheriff Floyd from the University of Florida said “I think we should be paid to play football in college because it’s kind of a real beating on the body.”(Sansevere, TwinCities). To think that all that training may end up not paying off is very demoralizing to many athletes. All those long hours in the gym and countless suicides may never set them up financially. One wrong turn, twist or move could take them out of the sport that these college athletes love and kill all their hopes of making a career of the sport. College athletic programs have grown so much in the past fifteen years that it is hard to believe the kind of money sports are bringing in for the school (especially football). In the mid 1900s, well respected Division I football programs were paying their college coaches around $15,000, now programs such as Oklahoma and Florida are dishing out anywhere from three to
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five million dollars (Doyel, CBSSports). Colleges are able to do this because of the insane amounts of money they are receiving through advertisements, ticketing, merchandise sales, and donations all because of prestigious sport programs. However, it is not possible to have a prestigious sports program without elite athletes that can carry a team to victory. These elite athletes are not getting paid anything. In most cases these athletes are being granted thousands of dollars in scholarships, but they are not being awarded an income. With their hard work showing on the football field they are very deserving of something extra, especially when the school is grossing millions of dollars each year because of the hard work that they put forth (Doyel, CBSSports). This is not fair to the players. “The problem I am trying to solve is the fundamental fairness, running a professional sports organization and I don’t think it’s fair that only one class of people is restricted to their expenses only and nothing more”, said Jay Bilas when talking about college athletes being treated unfair because of the lack of money they receive (Chen, DukeChronicle). Another major point that Bilas talks about is the use of academic advancement for the school. He says “A lot of schools use sports for institutional advancement.” This is entirely true because many schools across the nation that are substantially large usually have a well established sports program. This is in direct effect because of the type of players that the school is recruiting. In 2011, there was a contract signed between the NCAA and CBS Sports that made a deal from 2011 to 2024 for 10.8 billion dollars for March Madness. March Madness for those who are unfamiliar, is approximately three weeks of college basketball that ultimately determines the best basketball team in the nation (Wilbon, “College Athletes Deserve to be Paid”, ESPN). This deal will include all televised events leading up to and including the national championship. Almost 11 billion dollars for three weeks is a ridiculous sum of money that is plenty enough to be spread
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around college athletes. Michael Wilbon believes that the 11 billion dollars that is being handed out for these televised events should be shared among the athletes who are responsible for these hyped up sporting events (Wilbon, “College Athletes Deserve to be Paid”, ESPN). One thing that cannot be disputed is the fact that college athletes have worked extremely hard to get where they are. To make it as far as the collegiate level in athletics, determination, persistence and a lot of time and money on training and practicing. These athletes have been punishing their bodies for years in order to be the very best they can be, however it is not certain that their bodies will last them long enough to make it to the professional level. Some of these athletes will not be able to endure any more pain than they already have and will simply have to leave the sport that they love. Student athletes may not be “good enough,” to play at the professional level even though they shined in their college program. For example, Tim Tebow who was a star at the University of Florida played for two years in the NFL and was just recently cut from the New York Jets roster (Heizer, Bleacher Report). Unfortunately, some of these college athletes that have spent their whole life planning and training for professional sports are going to be left with a college career that made them a national role model, and envying the college program that made millions off of their unrelenting hard work.
