Next they'll be wanting to give them a free education, free room and board, free world-class athletic training facilities...oh wait.
I was the worlds biggest Alabama fan since about the age of 11 or 12. I lost interest a few years ago because it was starting not to feel like the college football game I loved. I watched most of the games in '22, very few in '23 and none except Oklahoma in '24. Why Oklahoma? Because I wanted to see what the hype was all about. I chose the wrong game.
In December we were asked to give money to help Alabama keep up. December? Really? At Christmas time when there are folks out there that could use a little help. Now the legislature, possibly at the urging of some within UA, are wanting to give NIL tax breaks? If I had anymore straws this would have been the last one.
It's not enough that as an athlete you're given an incredible platform to prepare yourself for the next level, for free. My non-athletic children, all of whom graduated from UA, would have loved to have had their time there for free.
Even for those not fortunate enough to make it to the next level, just having been a part of major college sports can and often does open a lot of doors for you professionally. Doors that the typical college graduate has to compete with others to get into. But that's not enough.
I hate that I feel this way. I hate that a sport I and so many others dedicated many, many Saturdays to, has changed so much. I used to enjoy following players through their recruitment, then as they came onto campus and grew into leaders and eventually starters. But now I can't follow many of them, because chances are they'll move on after a year to the high bidder.
I know there are many out there that welcome these change, so college sports will live on. It'll be interesting to see where it is in 5 years.