Not so fast my friend! If you are a college football fan then you know this line from ESPN Gameday specialist Lee Corso. Saturday for division I students is almost like waking up to a Christmas breakfast with presents. These athletes are recruited to play the sport they love since they were little boys and girls. They did not play the game to make and money or draw recruiters, all that mattered was enjoying your time on the field and making your parents smile. The recruiters only became a part of your life when high school was in the process and you knew that your schooling could be covered or fully paid for by college universities. Now, these same athletes want to paid big dollars to play in a college where everything is already free! Personally, I don't care if you can afford a piece of pizza or not. You are already getting every other meal free because most schools have their own football cafeteria line. When the debate on college athletes being paid or not comes up you need to look at the full picture. College athletes are paid with a different form of payment that resides in scholarships, tuition, travel, free food, and the list could go on and on. The idea of these athletes being paid would destroy the game! That is the point in which everyone and every piece of writing fails to mention. These athletes are still students, they are not professionals. Professionals can be found in National Football League, not college.
The first idea you have to look at would be developing a system to pay these athletes in a fair way. To understand any form of payment to these athletes would be to take a look at the opportunities and bonuses these students already take for granted each and everyday. The athletes that are leading this wave of demand for being paid are the big players. Using a few of these players’ names as examples only would be those such as Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, and other big name players. These players bring millions of dollars to their schools via tickets, commercials, bowl games, and school licensed apparel. A lot of college professors, media officials, and the players alike agree that these players should see some of the profit they help bring the school each and every year. Personally, I am a freshman student and Northern Kentucky University and I do not play sports. However, I am a vivid sports fan who can respect the concern on these athletes wanting and deserving to be paid. Looking at a high school athletics team, the practices and games are held each and everyday excluding Sunday. I played baseball for my high school and I could not have a job unless it was on Saturday or Sunday and sometimes Saturday evenings we would have had a baseball game. Knowing that these athletes are going to a higher and more organized form of athletics, I can understand the push for some sort of payment. To counter argue the push for payment would be the common argument that these students are paid through their scholarship. By looking at my school as example con show the worth of any scholarship for athletics (note that Northern Kentucky University is a Division II school so, the costs will be less).
Tuition Costs for Kentucky Students- $3,396
Tuition Costs for Non Residential Students- $6,396
Housing Costs starts from $1,590 and goes up to $3,025
Living on campus requires a meal plan which is a minimum of $1,185 all the way to $1,305
Along with these charges are books which can be up to $500 a semester, parking permits ($187), class fees for materials, and any free time activity you want to partake in during the semester. Then you have to take all these costs and multiply by eight because you have two semesters each year and four years a scholarship (not to mention red shirting and having a fifth year). Let's say we use these numbers from my school and we calculate using the smallest of each cost. ((3,396 + 1,590 + 1,185 + 300 for books and + 187) * 8) This comes out to equal $53,264 and that could easily be more than a lot of people's annual salary. The money does not stop here because you have to factor in travel via across the country and international, five stars dining, and perks including promotion and commercials. These factors cannot be easily be given a dollar value because of the broad range of numbers that vary from player to player and school to school.
You cannot tell me that earning over $50,000 in free education and travel is not enough and that these players and wanting more. This may not be the case for every athlete but, I know that most people being awarded these scholarships would be given some money from their parents and other family members. Players with big names in the college world usually know if they have the ability to play in the next level and whether you are a starting player or bench player, the salary in the National Football League is enough to pay off family and/or your parents. Another solution can be taking a loan. By having school paid for and your housing, you can take a student loan for straight cash to be used for meals and other forms of entertainment. If you look at any NFL team and analyze the median salary for the team you will find that all thirty-two teams have an average salary above $630,000. http://content.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/salaries/mediansalaries.aspx?year=2008
Now let’s look at the conclusion that would take place if schools paid their student athletes. Game equals fail. College is not the professional leagues so therefore you do not get paid. The game would fall apart as it did before. At one point in time,
college athletes were paid before the Olympic community took action. Whether the reasoning is because of the Olympics cracking down or the idea of paying athletes backfire the conclusion was the same. You cannot draw up a fair enough system for the athletes to be paid. The only fair system would cost the school more money they would draw in and cause every division III school to be losing money and some division II schools. A good comparison would be Tim Tebow vs. Tony Pike. Tim Tebow is arguably the best college athlete right now and Tony Pike led the University of Cincinnati to an undefeated season along with a Big East title. The size of Florida compared to Cincinnati is not even in the same ballpark. The amount of money that each school brings in is also not comparable because Florida has won two titles in the last four years and had a shot at another title fall short last week. Cincinnati has never won a national title and has not been a big football school for along time. Each player puts in the same amount of time and has the same amount of games but, how can you equally pay both players? Lets say you pay them the same amount which we can label X. So, we have Tebow making X and Pike making X and then you have to pay the other players X to be fair. If each player has the same workout schedule and class studies then why should they not be paid the same amount? A lot of people would answer because of the athletic ability. To counter this solution would be the 
balance between schools. If different players are paid different amounts then the higher ranked schools with more money will BUY the better athletes (keep in mind we are talking college sports). The smaller schools will not have any chance of winning because the five star recruits will playing for USC, Texas, Michigan, and Ohio State. This also brings up a reason to not pay athletes because then you would have to pay division II and III athletes cash as well! These students may not have the same athletics ability but, they put in the same amount of time as division I students so they are being deprived of money as well. This blog has focused on football but, let’s take a look at other sports such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, and tennis. All these athletes play a sport in college to pay for their education (which also sparks another point for walk-ons) and whether it is tennis or football they all have the same amount of responsibility. Walk-ons are also part of the team and they are going to want X to help for their social desires and wants. Are you going to pay them? Are you going to pay them the same? If you don’t pay them, then they won’t want to play so therefore you will lose most of your team. Most of football teams consist of walk-ons because of the size of a football team so; you will lose a lot of you position players.
The final argument I would have against paying these athletes would be the sport in general. If you pay these college students it will slowly destroy the game. From a personal perspective would be my interest in college sports because of the heart and passion for the game. These kids play the game to get to the next level and play to represent themselves along with their school. The NFL players play more for their paycheck and not heart. A lot of sports fan prefer college sports because of this passion.
Bottom line is that colleges will not and should not pay these athletes. One reason to back this up regarding football is that they use college as their minor league system. That is money not having to be paid because scouting the college athletes is free of charge. Baseball and NBA has a different system of minor league teams and different systems to scout the players which are being paid. As for wanting a piece of pizza, go to the commons or cafeteria and grab one...its free for you. When it comes to paying these athletes,
NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND!!! These athletes have everything they would need. They get free education, housing, travel, food, and getting their name out there for the professional world! Not to mention those who do not get drafted have a good career in being alumni for the school and being involved with the school in some fashion. Next Saturday wake up and turn on ESPN around 11:00 o'clock a.m. and imagine that these students are being paid. When Lee Corso picks the mascot to win it will be the team with the biggest payroll. Which sparks another question...salary cap anyone?
The first idea you have to look at would be developing a system to pay these athletes in a fair way. To understand any form of payment to these athletes would be to take a look at the opportunities and bonuses these students already take for granted each and everyday. The athletes that are leading this wave of demand for being paid are the big players. Using a few of these players’ names as examples only would be those such as Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, and other big name players. These players bring millions of dollars to their schools via tickets, commercials, bowl games, and school licensed apparel. A lot of college professors, media officials, and the players alike agree that these players should see some of the profit they help bring the school each and every year. Personally, I am a freshman student and Northern Kentucky University and I do not play sports. However, I am a vivid sports fan who can respect the concern on these athletes wanting and deserving to be paid. Looking at a high school athletics team, the practices and games are held each and everyday excluding Sunday. I played baseball for my high school and I could not have a job unless it was on Saturday or Sunday and sometimes Saturday evenings we would have had a baseball game. Knowing that these athletes are going to a higher and more organized form of athletics, I can understand the push for some sort of payment. To counter argue the push for payment would be the common argument that these students are paid through their scholarship. By looking at my school as example con show the worth of any scholarship for athletics (note that Northern Kentucky University is a Division II school so, the costs will be less).
Tuition Costs for Kentucky Students- $3,396
Tuition Costs for Non Residential Students- $6,396
Housing Costs starts from $1,590 and goes up to $3,025
Living on campus requires a meal plan which is a minimum of $1,185 all the way to $1,305
Along with these charges are books which can be up to $500 a semester, parking permits ($187), class fees for materials, and any free time activity you want to partake in during the semester. Then you have to take all these costs and multiply by eight because you have two semesters each year and four years a scholarship (not to mention red shirting and having a fifth year). Let's say we use these numbers from my school and we calculate using the smallest of each cost. ((3,396 + 1,590 + 1,185 + 300 for books and + 187) * 8) This comes out to equal $53,264 and that could easily be more than a lot of people's annual salary. The money does not stop here because you have to factor in travel via across the country and international, five stars dining, and perks including promotion and commercials. These factors cannot be easily be given a dollar value because of the broad range of numbers that vary from player to player and school to school.
You cannot tell me that earning over $50,000 in free education and travel is not enough and that these players and wanting more. This may not be the case for every athlete but, I know that most people being awarded these scholarships would be given some money from their parents and other family members. Players with big names in the college world usually know if they have the ability to play in the next level and whether you are a starting player or bench player, the salary in the National Football League is enough to pay off family and/or your parents. Another solution can be taking a loan. By having school paid for and your housing, you can take a student loan for straight cash to be used for meals and other forms of entertainment. If you look at any NFL team and analyze the median salary for the team you will find that all thirty-two teams have an average salary above $630,000. http://content.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/salaries/mediansalaries.aspx?year=2008
Now let’s look at the conclusion that would take place if schools paid their student athletes. Game equals fail. College is not the professional leagues so therefore you do not get paid. The game would fall apart as it did before. At one point in time,
college athletes were paid before the Olympic community took action. Whether the reasoning is because of the Olympics cracking down or the idea of paying athletes backfire the conclusion was the same. You cannot draw up a fair enough system for the athletes to be paid. The only fair system would cost the school more money they would draw in and cause every division III school to be losing money and some division II schools. A good comparison would be Tim Tebow vs. Tony Pike. Tim Tebow is arguably the best college athlete right now and Tony Pike led the University of Cincinnati to an undefeated season along with a Big East title. The size of Florida compared to Cincinnati is not even in the same ballpark. The amount of money that each school brings in is also not comparable because Florida has won two titles in the last four years and had a shot at another title fall short last week. Cincinnati has never won a national title and has not been a big football school for along time. Each player puts in the same amount of time and has the same amount of games but, how can you equally pay both players? Lets say you pay them the same amount which we can label X. So, we have Tebow making X and Pike making X and then you have to pay the other players X to be fair. If each player has the same workout schedule and class studies then why should they not be paid the same amount? A lot of people would answer because of the athletic ability. To counter this solution would be the 
balance between schools. If different players are paid different amounts then the higher ranked schools with more money will BUY the better athletes (keep in mind we are talking college sports). The smaller schools will not have any chance of winning because the five star recruits will playing for USC, Texas, Michigan, and Ohio State. This also brings up a reason to not pay athletes because then you would have to pay division II and III athletes cash as well! These students may not have the same athletics ability but, they put in the same amount of time as division I students so they are being deprived of money as well. This blog has focused on football but, let’s take a look at other sports such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, and tennis. All these athletes play a sport in college to pay for their education (which also sparks another point for walk-ons) and whether it is tennis or football they all have the same amount of responsibility. Walk-ons are also part of the team and they are going to want X to help for their social desires and wants. Are you going to pay them? Are you going to pay them the same? If you don’t pay them, then they won’t want to play so therefore you will lose most of your team. Most of football teams consist of walk-ons because of the size of a football team so; you will lose a lot of you position players.The final argument I would have against paying these athletes would be the sport in general. If you pay these college students it will slowly destroy the game. From a personal perspective would be my interest in college sports because of the heart and passion for the game. These kids play the game to get to the next level and play to represent themselves along with their school. The NFL players play more for their paycheck and not heart. A lot of sports fan prefer college sports because of this passion.
Bottom line is that colleges will not and should not pay these athletes. One reason to back this up regarding football is that they use college as their minor league system. That is money not having to be paid because scouting the college athletes is free of charge. Baseball and NBA has a different system of minor league teams and different systems to scout the players which are being paid. As for wanting a piece of pizza, go to the commons or cafeteria and grab one...its free for you. When it comes to paying these athletes,
NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND!!! These athletes have everything they would need. They get free education, housing, travel, food, and getting their name out there for the professional world! Not to mention those who do not get drafted have a good career in being alumni for the school and being involved with the school in some fashion. Next Saturday wake up and turn on ESPN around 11:00 o'clock a.m. and imagine that these students are being paid. When Lee Corso picks the mascot to win it will be the team with the biggest payroll. Which sparks another question...salary cap anyone? 
