College Athletes: Employees or Students?

850 Words2 Pages

Paul Dietzel, former head coach of LSU, once said, “You can learn more character on the two-yard line than anywhere else in life.” Ever since the beginning, not only children but also college athletes have been playing sports for the love of the game and have used it as a way to grow character, teamwork, and leadership. Although when playing for a University an athletes job is to bring in profit for the school, this is not why these young men and women have continued with these sports they love. It is usually these students passion, a way for them to express themselves like others have art and music. The question has been up whether these college athletes should be paid for their loyalty and income for the University but by paying these students more than their given scholarship, it would defeat the purpose and environment of a college sport versus a professional sport, cause recruiting disputes, and affect the colleges benefits from these school athletics.
Fans have such a love for college football, completely different from NFL but paying athletes just like professional ones would change that different environment for both players and fans completely. Fans love the idea that they are watching these young men play with passion and love for the game. University alumni like to see these players have the same loyalty to the schools that they had when they attended. It resembles a big family, which is so different than a professional team that is technically playing simply for money for the organizations. Collegiate sports is not a career or profession. It is the students' vehicle to a higher education degree (Mitchell). Like many say, “you play for the name on the front, not the back.” It is a common argument that that professio...

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...whole different world from professional sports considering they supply men with a family to help grow character with, supply them with a free education, and create a whole community of people that are loyal and generally remain loyal to one school. This bridge between the two sports could be majorly affected if college athletes were to be paid and would then bring up the issue about paying even high school athletes eventually. It is merely opening a can of worms and has been a tradition for so long that it should remain one for years to come. College athletes might not be receiving a full salary but that is not the point of it and they know what they are getting into when they commit to playing a sport. This long-standing barrier between professional and college athletics should remain how it is for the good of everyone but mostly the athletes and college programs.

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