Should College Football Players Be Paid by the NCAA?
The NCAA should continue to not pay college athletes because of the many complications that would go along with giving every player pay for play. According to Mark Guarino in his article “NCAA and college sports: Is it time to pay athletes to play?”, Kain Colter, the former Northwestern quarterback says that he spent 60 hours a week on football-related activities during the summer and 40 to 50 hours a week during the season, all while trying to manage school work, and says that “We’re brought to the university to play football.” This being said, the students take football very seriously, more serious than their schoolwork. They treat football as if it is their job but they are working for
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free. This is why many people argue for student athletes being paid. Although, isn’t a scholarship and a college education enough compensation? “Each college and university can only admit a limited number of students every year. The opportunity for a college education for many potential students is reduced every time the educational institution gives special preference in admitting athletes…” (Bowen and Shulman 1). These athletes are being put priority over other potential students. These amateur athletes should not be paid by the NCAA because the college education they are receiving is valuable enough in itself.
Being an athlete in college is a choice, no athlete is forced to put in those hours and many people would consider playing college football a privilege. James Shulman and William Bowen in their book “The Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values” present evidence that demonstrates “a consistent tendency for athletes to do less well academically than their classmates- and, even more troubling, a consistent tendency for athletes to underperform academically not just relative to other students, but relative to how they themselves might have expected to perform” (Bowen and Shulman 3) This is why a scholarship is plenty compensation in itself. Many athletes are going to school for free and all they have to do is maintain the minimum GPA required so they don’t get their scholarships pulled. College athletes should not receive extra pay if they are not going to take their school work seriously and …show more content…
exceed. The NCAA should not pay college athletes because of the post-eligibility school benefits they offer.
According to Eugene McCormack, a staff editor for the Chronicle of Higher Education, “there are many programs that help pay for the costs of college athletes to return to school after their playing careers have concluded. Colleges even have incentives to help former athletes get their degrees under recently enacted rules by the National Collegiate Athletic Association…” (McCormack 1). Many institutions are “making it easier for college athletes to complete the degrees that eluded them during their playing days” (McCormack 1). Basically, the NCAA is trying to make it up to these athletes for all the time and dedication they put in to the sport by offering incentives like, “free tuition, housing and other assistance - often in exchange for part-time work in the athletic department” (McCormack 2). The post –eligibility program is growing, “In fact, 38 percent of all NCAA Division I football programs have had at least one player come back to finish his degree…” (McCormack
3). Paying college athletes would be too complicated and lead to a number a different issues. The National Collegiate Athletic Association stands firm that paying amateur athletes is unrealistic. Members of the NCAA “…believe that paying players would lead to competitive imbalance, create a backlash from fans, and damage the academic integrity on which its system is based” (Wolverton). The association believes that paying the college athletes would end up doing more harm than good. College football players should continue to only receive scholarships as compensation. Works Cited Guarino, Mark. "NCAA and college sports: It is time to pay athletes to play?" Christian Science Monitor 18 May 2014: N.PAG. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Sept. 2016. McCormack, Eugene. "College Athletes Should Not Be Paid due to Post-Eligibility School Benefits." Should College Athletes Be Paid? Ed. Geoff Griffin. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. At Issue. Rpt. from "Classroom Comeback." Chronicle of Higher Education 7 July 2006. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 3 Oct.
Some feel that by not paying college athletes that college institutions are thereby exploiting their athletes free of charge, which is unfair. However, this article feels that college athletes are paid very favorably by the large amount of money they receive for schooling through scholarships. Also, since college athletes don’t pay to play or go to school they are receiving a free college degree whether or not they decide to stay in school for four years or not. With the training that they receive from professional trainers and nutritionists for a professional controlled diet they save possibly thousands within the 4 years they attend school and perform in collegiate athletics.
College athletes should not be paid it will ruin college sports forever. Some people believe that college athletes should be paid by the school because of all of the hard work they put in however they shouldn’t be paid because there is no fair way to pay every college athlete. There are many reasons that college athletes shouldn’t be paid one of the main reasons is that colleges don’t have enough money, the second reason is that they already get money in the form of scholarships, and there is no fair way to pay each college athlete.
College athletes are undoubtedly some of the hardest working people in the world. Not only are they living the life of an average student, they also have a strenuous schedule with their specific sport. One of the most discussed topics in the world of college athletics is whether or not student-athletes should be paid money for playing sports. The people who disagree with the idea have some good arguments to make. Primarily that the athletes get to go to school for free for playing sports. Another argument is that if student-athletes were to get paid then it would ruin the amateurism of college sports. People who are against paying the athletes do not want to see the young people become focused on money. “Paying student-athletes would dramatically shift their focus away from where it should be - gaining knowledge and skills for life after college” (Lewis and Williams). This is very understandable because one of the biggest reasons college sports are so popular is because the athletes play for school pride and for bragging rights. They play because they enjoy the game, not because it is their job. Most people that disagree with the idea of paying the athletes fail to realize what really goes on behind the scenes. At most Universities around the country the bulk of the income the school receives is brought in through the athletic programs. In fact the football and basketball teams usually bring in enough money to completely pay for the rest of the athletic programs all together. To get a better understanding of how much has changed in the world of college sports a little history must be learned.
Tyson Hartnett of The Huffington Post once said “Even with any type of scholarship, college athletes are typically dead broke.” This quote regards a tremendous controversy that has been talked about for the past few years. He talks about whether or not college athletes should be paid for their duties. Despite the fact college athletes are not professionals, they should most certainly be paid for playing for their respective schools due to many factors. These factors include health risks and the income bring in for their colleges as well as to the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
I have decided to write a response paper to Ekow N. Yankah’s: “Why N.C.A.A. Athletes Shouldn’t Be Paid”. Although I enjoyed reading his perspective, I do not agree with his statement which addresses that student-athletes shouldn 't get paid. Universities are using their student-athlete’s popularity to promote their athletics program while the student-athletes are unable to promote their own image. Student-athletes work hard day in and day out, basically like having a full time job. Which makes time is also very limited during the day for student athletes to get a real job to pay for the extra expenses that they need. Also, most of the time coaches will not allow the student athletes to work, because of their conflicting schedules with practice.
College athletes juggle busy academic and practice schedules all throughout their stressful weeks, so why shouldn't they be compensated for their time dedicated to sports? NCAA rules strictly prohibits players from being paid for all the hard work they do to protect “amateurism”, but are you really an amateur putting in over 40 hours a week between practice and other activities? Although students earn a college scholarship, that doesn’t cover living expenses, and access to a degree at the end of their career, players should be paid because schools, coaching staffs and major corporations are profiting off their free labor.
College football has been a sport in American society for decades. Yet the players playing the sport are not receiving their fair cut of the prize. It has been debated whether or not college football players should get paid for playing. The supporters say that the players are not being compensated fairly and the non-supporters say that the education the players receive is payment enough. They also say that the universities the players attend are providing them with the basic necessities so they should not get paid. College football players should be paid though because they put their bodies at risk, make a lot of money for their school, and the play to entertain audiences.
Today there are over 450,000 college athletes and the National College Athletics Association (NCAA) faces a difficult decision on whether or not college athletes should be paid. Many people believe that they should and many believe they should not. There are several benefits that college’s athletes receive for being a student athlete. Why should they receive even more benefits than their scholarship and numerous perks?
Some people say that college athletes get paid by having a scholarship, but if you look at it a different way, scholarships might change your mind. Coaches try to get players who they think have the talent to make them win and to persuade them to come to their school by offering them scholarships. The whole idea behind a scholarship is to lure the athlete into coming to your school. Scholarships are nothing more than a recruitment tactic. They will give you a scholarship as long as you produce for them. It’s all about what you can do for them. Indeed these scholarships pay for tuition, room and board, and books, but these athletes don’t have money for other necessities. The NCAA doesn’t want friends or boosters to offer athletes jobs because they ...
Even the waterboy gets paid! NCAA football is a billion dollar a year empire, in which coaches, executives, school presidents, board members, athletic trainers, athletic directors, equipment managers, Waterboys, towel boys, ball boys, and even team mascots all receive a chunk of the revenue. Everyone gets paid except the athletes, who don’t receive a dime of the money. That’s because it’s against NCAA rules to pay college athletes with anything other than an athletic scholarship; anything else, and it’s deemed as an improper benefit, thus making an athlete ineligible if he/she were to accept. The NCAA defends its rule of “no-pay” by claiming that all its student-athletes are “amateurs” and not employees; therefore, they’re legally not compensated. The argument over whether student-athletes should be paid or not, is particularly unsettling within the sport of football, because NCAA football is the most popular and profitable sport of all college athletics. The NCAA’s discrepancy over whether it should pay its players or not, currently has the association fighting a lawsuit filed by former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon, who’s suing for compensation on behalf of former Division I football and men’s basketball players. The lawsuit challenges the NCAA’s use of student-athletes’ images and likeness for commercial purposes (PBS.org). In recent months the argument has been geared more towards whether current student-athletes should be paid or not, particularly football players, who like former Texas A&M star quarterback Johnny Manziel, provide the athleticism and entertainment that makes NCAA football the million dollar empire that it is. So, should college football players be paid?
One of the strongest arguments against student athletes getting paid is that many people feel they already are getting paid, through their financial aid package. Sports Illustrated author, Seth Davis, states in his article “Hoop Thoughts”, that “student athletes are already being payed by earning a free tuition. Which over the course of four years can exceed $200,000, depending on the school they attend. They are also provided with housing, textbooks, food and academic tutoring. When they travel to road games, they are given per diems for meals. They also get coaching, training, game experience and media exposure in their respective crafts” (Davis, 2011). This is a considerable amount of income. While the majority of regular students are walking out of school with a sizeable amount of debt, most student athletes are debt free. Plus they get to enjoy other benefits that are not made available to the average student. They get to travel with their teams, t...
If you or anyone else knows a college athlete, especially one who is on scholarship, you would think that they have it easy. Free tuition and room and board; meanwhile you have to work at a part time job and actually pay for your schooling. But in all reality these people earned what they got, because many of these students did not come from wealthy families. According to USA Today, 85% of college athletes who are on scholarships live below the poverty line. So by receiving a scholarship for athletics it is giving them a chance to improve their own quality of life, and as humans we deserve to at least have some sense of self-worth. Athletes get many accommodations while attending school, aside from them going for free; they c...
College athletes should be paid because they are basically working for the school. When a student gets a scholarship to a college for a sport they are expected to practice with the team and without the team, so on their free time. College athletes go way over the maximum amount of hours they are allowed to practice with the team. A 2011 survey, from the article Should College Athletes Be Paid?, states “The NCAA has a limit of 20 hours of training per week, D1 football players on average practice 43 hours a week, baseball 42.1 hours a week, and men’s basketball 39.2 hours a week”(Walch). With
College athletes should be paid! College athletes are often considered to be some of the luckiest students in the world. Most of them receiving all inclusive scholarships that cover all the costs of their education. They are also in a position to make a reputation for themselves in the sporting world preparing them for the next step. The ongoing debate whether student athletes should be paid has been going on for years. These athletes bring in millions of dollars for their respective schools and receive zero in return. Many will argue that they do receive payment, but in reality it is just not true. Costs associated with getting a college education will be discussed, information pertaining to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and benefits student athletes receive. First, I’ll start with costs associated with college and most of all why student athletes should be paid!
First, college football shouldn’t be paid because they already could be making money. They should get a job if they don’t have one already. College football is not a job, working as a waiter or being a tutor is a job. Also, many of the players are there on scholarships. Those cover lots of money. “For an out-of-state public school, the average value is $25,000, a year” (NCAA). The player is practically being paid to go to school. If the players are already being paid to go to school, and being paid at a job, they do not need to be paid to play college