When university players commit their lives to athletics, they limit the amount of time to study and gain the education they are in college for, they lack time for social freedoms, and most importantly they have no opportunity to earn money for ordinary living (even if the NCAA allowed it). Often, many kids and their families are in deep financial debt, “I think it should just depend on their financial situation. A lot of guys are blessed with parents who are still married, who are together; they have great occupations and are doing well off financially. Others aren't in such fortunate situations. I think it should just come down to the player and his environment.” stated Bruce Heggie in his twitter interview on USA Today, discussing the topic whether or not collegiate athletes should receive money for what they do. This is true because if parents have a good financial background, they can supply their child with what they need, but if a college student doesn’t have adults with enough income to support them, they definitely need the school to help them. “My freshman roommate worked a job at the university, earning about $7/hour. He would work his butt off all day, with two or sometimes three basketball training sessions, plus classes and homework, and go to that job for a few hours late at night. He would come back exhausted, but he needed whatever money they would pay him.” Stated Tyson Hartnett, an entrepreneur writing about this controversy on The Blog. In addition to this, he also states“once the season started up, he couldn't work that job anymore.” This is a prime example of regular students having time, but athletic students not having the chance to make money for a living. This supports the claim proving that most athletes do not have the ability to get a part time job and make a few bucks, enough to live, eat and possibly hang with friends at a movie.
It is not only the university itself that is making millions off these student athletes; it is also every organization that partners with university teams or the NCAA. Millions are made yet the ones making these programs possible aren’t getting paid. It’s not right and they deserve a little reward for what they do for the schools and their affiliated organizations. “Sky rocketing TV contracts, video game and merchandise sales, everyone seems to be cashing in. Athletic conferences, universities, coaches, everyone except the athletes themselves.” Stated Mark McKay, reporting for CNN Money Atlanta. Athletes are showing examples of wanting to be paid, “Johnny Manziel who won the Heisman Trophy Award as a freshman as a red shirt with Texas A&M last year is in now in hot water for allegedly accepting high sums of money for his autograph.” Again, stated Mark McKay for CNN Money. His autograph is worth hundreds of dollars. “The NCAA can make money off Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M can make money off of Johnny Manziel, the apparel companies can make money off of Johnny Manziel, and the only person that can’t make money off of Johnny Manziel is Johnny Manziel.” Stated Greg Bishop, also reporting for CNN Money Atlanta. This is not fair, and controversial, players are being exploited, they do not see a penny of it, let alone hear it jingling in their pockets.
Some may say that college athletes are already paid, they get a free scholarship that can be worth over $25,000 a year, an education which is priceless, and most get to utilize and practice in amazing state of the art sport complex’s, as well as get free meals. However, “most athletes don't last at a school for the whole four years. Once you get sport involved, there are politics, injuries, and a call to the office to tell the player, ‘Thanks, but we don't need you on this team anymore.’ Many players will get a scholarship for a year or two only. ” Stated Tyson Hartnett in his article on the Huffington Post. Because many sports, football in particular, are strenuous, injuries are expected and occur in nearly every game of every season. College athletes bring so much hard work to the field but don’t get reimbursed for any acts of dedication towards their school. Once badly injured, the player is no longer useful and is tossed away like an empty Gatorade bottle, and their scholarship is in jeopardy. The argument that these universities are giving all athletes top-notch educations is not always the case. In the Slate article Postdocs for Jocks, written by Rebecca Schuman, a study was done by Mary Willingham, a worker at the UNC Center for Student Success and Academic Counseling, her studies found “Some 8 to 10 percent of the students she worked with read at a third-grade level or below. She claims one student who came to see her could not read or write at all; another sought tutoring so that he could finally understand his own press coverage.” This study shows another example of schools exploiting the athletic talents of their students; the claims of a free education are often false.
College students have athletic responsibilities within their colleges yet receive zero dollars and zero cents in return. The colleges themselves should have an equal responsibility towards their athletes rather than being responsible for making money off them for the NCAA and those who feed off the merchandise offered by their athletes. The NCAA rules don’t allow student athletes to earn enough to survive and live a life. This is wrong. All human beings should have the chance to live a life full of the opportunity to achieve. Money is essential to many athletes because too many of them such as Dj Fluker, the ex-University of Alabama offensive tackle (now in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers) were homeless or came from broken families’ neck deep in poverty. Money can’t buy everything, but it can give people a second chance and let them a healthy life full of hope.
