Corruption in Collegiate Athletics Collegiate athletics in the United States, in particular N.C.A.A. (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division I basketball and football, have become one of the most prominent forms of sports entertainment today. Like their professional counterparts, the economic stability of many university and college sports programs relies on the success of its teams. As a result, coaches and team officials have been subject to a great deal of criticism, as many have been using improper methods to recruit athletes for their teams. In the past half century, the NCAA, an amateur organization, has been no stranger to its share of corruption and scandal. The NCAA’s constitution states that “An amateur sportsman is one who engages in sports for the physical, mental or social benefits he derives therefrom, and to whom the sport is an avocation. Any college athlete who takes pay for participation in athletics does not meet this definition of amateurism.” (from In Praise of ‘Student-Athletes’: the NCAA is Haunted by its past, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 8 1999) In addition to athletic scholarships, statistics have shown that nearly 50% of college athletes have themselves - or know of - athletes who have received under-the-table-payments for their services. (from Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Exploiting College Athletes, page 63) Since just after its re-birth after World War II in 1946, the NCAA has been subject to endless controversy. At the time of its re-conception, football coaches in the NCAA were openly recruiting professional players for teams and offering them rewards if they decided to join their squads. In addition, gambling and rumours of fixed games plagued college basketball at that time. NCAA executive Kenneth (Tug) Wilson ordered that teams who broke rules would be penalized by the NCAA. (from In Praise of ‘Student-Athletes’: the NCAA is Haunted by its Past, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 8 1999) More recently, Mike Rozier, a winner of the prestigious Heisman Trophy, the award given annually to the best college football player in the United States, estimated that he received 1,200 letters while playing football for the Cornhuskers at the University of Nebraska. He commented that: “most of the letters came from people I had never heard of, and who did not know me, or want to know me. All they wanted was to line their pockets with the money that I would soon earn in professional football.
They do not face problems of debt and tuition to the extent that the normal college student faces. Student-athletes are fairly compensated through publicity and financial benefits, and the NCAA should continue to refrain from paying them. The varying size and interest levels of universities makes it almost impossible to fairly pay all athletes. In order to avoid problems like those exhibited by Northwestern’s football team, who recently tried to unionize, all athletes would need to be paid equally. The excitement brought on by college sports is immense, and problems created due to paying athletes would only hurt the tradition and charisma that college athletics offer. In conclusion, College athletes are students and amateurs, not employees. “Remember student comes first in student-athlete”
The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel, began the 2013 season sitting on the sidelines. Due to a half game suspension handed down by Texas A&M University, Manziel was only allowed to watch as A&M took the field versus the visiting Rice Owls. To “Aggies” fans, this half game suspension came as a huge relief. It had been feared that Manziel may receive a multiple game or year-long ban from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for violating NCAA Bylaw 12.5.2.1. The bylaw prohibits athletes from allowing their name or picture to be used in a commercial matter (Berkes, 2013). Luckily for him, a half-game suspension would be his only punishment. Manziel was put into this predicament after reports surfaced that he had accepted money in return for autographs. No proof of this was ever found, but it was proved that someone, probably a memorabilia collector, profited from his signature (Berkes, 2013). So wait, a man can’t receive money for signing his own autograph? The answer is “no”, if he is a student athlete following the strict rules of the NCAA. The only benefits he can accept are those included in a lucrative scholarship given by universities. As more incidents like Johnny Manziel’s have occurred, it has been debated by sports analysts and the news media whether or not these scholarships are a fair payment. Another Heisman Trophy winner, Cam Newton, was accused of trying to sell his services to Mississippi State University after his decision to transfer from a community college following his junior year. While an NCAA investigation would find that his father had indeed tried to shop Cam to prospective schools, Newton was cleared to play (Wojciechowski, 2010). The 2005 Heisman Trophy winner, Reggie Bush, was ...
Spillane, Matt. "COLLEGE RECRUITING MAKES HEADLINES FOR CHEATING AND DISHONESTY." Www.academic.marist.edu/mwwatch/spring08/articles/sports/sports12.html. 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. .
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) formed in 1906. When the NCAA was incepted they created strict bylaws requiring student-athletes maintain amateur status (NCAA Amateurism). The NCAA has remained diligent in enforcing and maintaining those laws. Under NCAA law it is illegal for student athletes to enter into contracts with professional teams, receive a salary for participating in athletics, and receive benefits from an agent or prospective agents (NCAA Amateurism). Presently, the NCAA has justified these regulations to “ensure the students’ priority remains on obtaining a quality educational experience and that all of student-athletes are competing equitably” (NCAA Amateurism). These rules however, have been in place since 1...
The article, “The shame of the NCAA” by Dave Zirin and the essay written by Tim Ajmani, “Compensation for college students?”, have many similarities. Dave Zirin states, “The coaches own the athletes’ feet, the colleges own the athletes’ bodies, and the supervisors retain the large reward (Zirin 205)”, and in the piece written by Tim Ajmani, “they reap the benefits of the athletes competing in their sports(Ajmani 209)”. They both get at the same point but in different ways, student athletes are being owned by these colleges and the NCAA is getting paid for the hard work and skills that are shown on the court. Both writers suggested that students should get paid so they could finish school and not be a one and done.
In the beginning of inter-collegiate competition and even now the governing body the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) wanted athletes to maintain their amateurism. Being an amateur means, to remain unpaid why competing and performing a c. Athletes were to come from the student body and off-campus recruitment of athletes was prohibited. The problem with the many rules and regulations of the NCAA early on was that they expected schools to police themselves and uphold a certain amount of morality, but without checks and balances corruption was sure to take place and did so. From the late 1920’s and into the 1940’s big-time athletes would be “sponsored” by alumni in order to get them to play for that schools team. The alumni would usually just pay the tuition for the athlete and usually it was seen as a loan but rarely got paid back.
Beginning in the 1920s, public interest towards college sports sky rocketed with the growing opportunities of higher education for everyone, regardless of social status. This effect caused the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Education to take a closer look into this fast growing industry in the “Carnegie Report” in 1929. The report made a plea to the NCAA to reduce the level of commercialization and improve academic integrity for all student-athletes. This is just the first time the NCAA receives this very recommendation. Post World War II brought another increase in college attendance with government financed aid to veterans. Widespread availability of televisions and radios lead to broadcasting of college sport events, bringing in a multitude of fans as well as the expected friends and family of athletes. Soon gambling and excessive means of recruiting tempted the industry and the NCAA was forced to...
Another reason that college athletes should not be paid is because they are, under NCAA rules, to be considered amateurs. In the National Collegiate Athletic Association Rules it states, “College athletes are not to be paid, not to cash in on their prominence, never to cross any kind of line of professionalism.” Steve Wieberg, of the USA Today, studied the rules that the NCAA has placed on paying college athletes. He concludes that, “Athletic programs are meant to be an integral part of the educational program” (Weinberg). The reoccurring theme here should be obvious now —education is the most important part of the student’s time in college and being an athlete should come second.
Throughout the long history of college sports, football in particular, athletes have played squarely off of scholarships or as walk-ons. The NCAA generates millions without paying the athletes a dime. Recent years have caused huge problems in the country with paying athletes for playing. Scandal after scandal has rocked the image of college football and doesn’t appear to be getting better. The NCAA prohibits student-athletes from receiving improper benefits and selling memorabilia for a profit when they should be paying its athletes.
College athletes are manipulated every day. Student athletes are working day in and day out to meet academic standards and to keep their level of play competitive. These athletes need to be rewarded and credited for their achievements. Not only are these athletes not being rewarded but they are also living with no money. Because the athletes are living off of no money they are very vulnerable to taking money from boosters and others that are willing to help them out. The problem with this is that the athletes are not only getting themselves in trouble but their athletic departments as well.
The selection process of an athlete is the result of the productivity of their abilities just like a slave’s trade all depended on the virtues and mass production they could bring to the plantations.The athletes are picked to work for the college based on how skilled, strong, and agile they are. The players are examined and watched on a field while showing their dexterities and then go to the highest bidder. Much like how slaves were taken to auctions and lined up in front of buyers who examined them to see how muscular, strong, healthy, and dexterous they were. Tom Lemming is the top national recruiting analyst for ESPN. For the NCAA he scouts, ranks, and rates high school football players such as Greg Jones from Beaufort, South Carolina ...
Taylor Branch argues that big time college sports are fully commercialized. Corporations offer large sums of money to universities so they can profit from the talent of college athletes. Branch believes that the NCAA imposes amateurism on its athletes for their own selfish gain. Branch calls into question two of the NCAA’s most noble principles on which it justifies its entire existence. The first being amateurism and the second being student-athlete. He believes that both are nothing but “cynical hoaxes” and just legal terms created by the universities so they can exploit the skills and fame of young athletes. The NCAA’s moral authority lies in its justification to protect what it calls the “student-athlete.” The term is meant to represent the amateurism of college sports, and the precedence of
First lets explore the history behind the paying of college athletes. Over the past 50 years the NCAA has been in control of all Div.1, 2 and 3 athletic programs. The NCAA is an organization that delegates and regulates what things college athletes can and can’t do. These regulations are put in place under the label of ‘protecting amateurism’ in college sports. This allots
In the area of collegiate sports, there have been numerous heated debates about the integrity of many things concerning the NCAA and how it handles legal and ethical issues. Two well renowned scholars tackle this issue in their co-authored book entitled
Many problems exist in college sports today. One of the major problems in college athletics today is the issue of athletes receiving impermissible benefits from colleges and their boosters. It seems as if players and universities are constantly under NCAA investigation for impermissible benefits. College athletics today and the perceptions of them are changing. Some people are just plain sick of the NCAA and their old-fashioned rules. There are many different opinions of what the NCAA should do regarding payment for players. Currently, all the NCAA is doing is nothing. Most people believe that rules need to be changed and updated, however varying opinions exist on what changes should be made. Many assume the only solution is to allow players to be paid by colleges. Contrary to popular belief, allowing colleges to pay athletes will not solve the problem of impermissible benefits; it will create other big problems People will break those rules no matter what, and there is no way to ensure fairness. Therefore, the NCAA needs to change its rules to allow stipends for college athletes but not payments.