Link: Time: "It's time to pay college athletes."

Nobody is making them accept the paid in full scholarship to the college. Don't play football and seek another type of grant or scholarship. You can get a loan and work your way through college if that's what you would want to do...........

Worst possible example of a player for that article.

RJ YellowHammer said:

I didn't see the article posted anywhere online so I can't judge the content, but I don't like the cover boy

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If they want to pay college athletes that's fine, but they should no longer have amateur status. They will be Professionals playing in the minor leagues.

If you are going to pay them, then pay all of them. If you are going to pay them, I don't think they should receive scholarships. Then, they'll have to pay for their schooling to be eligible to play. Require that they take no less than 18 hours a semester with a "B" average in order to play.

How about the rowing team, will they be paid? How about women's volleyball? How about golf, tennis, women's basketball?

If you are going to pay them, the specific sport should fund the paying and NOT football. Football should fund ONLY football.

If you can't make money from rowing with attendance of fans, etc. then they should not be paid. If Volleyball can't have enough fans at games to fund paying the volleyball players, then they should not be paid. Maybe some of these sports could sell cookies to help fund paying their players. If you are a track star, then the track budget from ticket buying fans) should have to pay you.

The players in certain sports may not make enough to pay for their education like a scholarship does.

Do you pay a Heisman trophy winner more than other players? I think NOT. The lineman and other players blocking for him may not want to block anymore.

Football is a team sport! I say Pay the players with scholarships and nothing more! When the athletes graduate they don't have to worry, like regular students who don't get scholarships, about how they are going to pay off loans used to pay for their education.
This whole thing of paying athletes is enough to make me want to quit watching college sports.

So, in essence, the players are PAID! They have scholarships!

RJ YellowHammer said:

There are college football players who need and maybe deserve a little more than just tuition, books, housing, and meals. Whatever the article says, they could've picked a better example than a spoiled rich kid to put on the cover. Kenny Bell maybe?

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That might be the case, don't you imagine that whatever the amount you give to the one student athlete that is the star QB for said university, that same amount would have to be given the bench warmer on the girls volleyball team, or kid riding the end of bench on any other sport.

I think it's a legitimate discussion to have, but I don't understand why Manziel is the catalyst for that discussion. Yes, he's well known, but he blatantly broke NCAA violations because he's a selfish *#$@, not because he needed the money. He should noe be the poster child of why NCAA athletes should be paid.

I think you can make a good argument for allowing top players to receive some of the benefits from their celebrity, but I don't see how just straight up paying players is feasible.

It is indeed time to begin paying college athletes.

It is also time for people to stop reading Time. Oh wait, that happened 20 years ago...

No, no it's not.

And I agree, using JM as a poster child for their cause is also a poor decision.
I'll save my rant for why they shouldn't be paid for another discussion.

JIB said:

I think it's a legitimate discussion to have, but I don't understand why Manziel is the catalyst for that discussion. Yes, he's well known, but he blatantly broke NCAA violations because he's a selfish *#$@, not because he needed the money. He should noe be the poster child of why NCAA athletes should be paid.

I think you can make a good argument for allowing top players to receive some of the benefits from their celebrity, but I don't see how just straight up paying players is feasible.

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Those top athletes don't get to be top athletes by themselves. If they do, then just put Johnny Football, Johnny Cash, Johnny Autograph, Johnny Paycheck, and all the other Johnnys out there to run, pass, catch, etc. without someone blocking for them!

If I were a lineman blocking for him I'd take a fall just like the UGA player against Clemson in another thread.

P. S. Some of these athletes get celebrity because someone is BLOCKING for them!

One player is NOT a team in football.

Currently the "cost of attendance" to Bama for an out-of-state student averages over $54,000. per year if they attend fall, spring, and summer semesters (which most athletes do). This is covered in full by their scholarship now. The same figure for in-state students in around $33,000. These are very valuable scholarships.

The last thing I will say about the paying college athletes something more than the free ride in college that they already receive. Two of my kids are in college, and I'm real proud of both of them. They were good athletes in high school, but certainly not college athletics material. One has a scholarship that pays most of his tuition. He pays the balance and buys books along with everything else that is needed for his education. He fry's fish and grills burgers all weekend long at a restaurant to make ends meet with that. The other one works at feed and seed store lifting sacks of seed and waiting on customers when he is not in class to make ends meet as he pursues his goal of a higher education. We as their parents do what we can to help them out as they go through this particular phase of their life. But our pockets don't go all the way to the floor so to speak. I guess what i'm getting around to is that, there are a lot of kids that will never get the opportunity to further their education, and they would probably give anything to have had that god given gift of being able to run a 4.4 forty and a paid ride at a institution of higher learning. That gift of athleticism has given these players a wonderful opportunity.

Who's going to provide the money to pay UAB's women's lacrosse team? (no idea if they have a women's lacrosse team, but....)

Alabama, Texas, USC, and the like probably bring in enough football money that if they WANTED TO, they could pay all of their athletes a small stipend. Not all schools draw enough money from football to even cover their football players, much less those others. And if the money isn't getting provided by the football program, where on earth will it come from, because I'd venture to guess that the vast majority of college sports do not even break even.

nx4bama said:

Who's going to provide the money to pay UAB's women's lacrosse team? (no idea if they have a women's lacrosse team, but....)

Alabama, Texas, USC, and the like probably bring in enough football money that if they WANTED TO, they could pay all of their athletes a small stipend. Not all schools draw enough money from football to even cover their football players, much less those others. And if the money isn't getting provided by the football program, where on earth will it come from, because I'd venture to guess that the vast majority of college sports do not even break even.

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I've started reading a book "Saturday Millionaires" by Kristi Dosh which points out horrendous problems that could arise if college athletes get paid, especially going beyond the scholarships covering the full cost of attendance. (And very few schools can do even that.) It would have to include all sports to comply with Title IX, but it also could create problems with tax-exempt status, create taxable income of student athletes and potentially create a situation where they could engage in collective bargaining as in pro sports (which this would be).

RJ YellowHammer said:

There are college football players who need and maybe deserve a little more than just tuition, books, housing, and meals. Whatever the article says, they could've picked a better example than a spoiled rich kid to put on the cover. Kenny Bell maybe?

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Wow, if I had received free tuition, free textbooks, free housing, and meals (all the food that's nourishing) when I was in college, I would have believed that I had died and gone to Heaven.

That's all you need!

Gas money, beer money, date money, other entertainment money can come from Momma or NOT! You can have a cheap date! You don't need to guzzle beer on the Strip to better yourself! If you need a phone, I'm sure Mr. Obama can provide one for you. You are in school to learn and grow as a person academically, emotionally, physically, etc.

Those free things above should take care of those BASIC needs. YOU can take care of any wants! Maybe, this would give you more time to STUDY! Hopefully, when you finish (i.e receive your degree), you will be a mature employable human being.

Just what we need: players strikes, guys not playing because they make the same as the subs and don't want to risk an injury that derails an NFL career, and complaints that only the really wealthy schools can afford to pay them.

There are some intelligent replies by posters who understand the real issues of paying college football players on this board. College football will never become a minor league for the NFL. It may happen in the free market but not as part of college athletics.

I failed to discuss Title IX issues enough.

Women want equal pay for unequal work.

So, Bama just needs to join the Ivy League. Look for athletes to recruit who can run the 40 in 50+seconds. Maybe we will be able to compete in Rowing.

Athletes are already getting paid a full-ride scholarship. They already get free clothes, shoes, travel, etc. If they live off campus, they receive a living stipend to account for rent and bills. Furthermore, due to federal laws, you have to pay all athletes, male and female, if you are going to pay college athletes. I'm not sure even Alabama, with all of its athletic financial prowess, could do that and still break even. I am a former walk-on cross country/track athlete at Alabama, and just the things I was able to receive just being an athlete was amazing.