People need to just realize college football players are football interns

[LeMoyneCuse]

Not necessarily. But it’s not nothing. And for 99% of college football players it’s more significant than some meaningless NIL pocket change. It could be life-changing.

That's so patronizing.

 

[All4SU]

That's so patronizing.

How so?

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

How so?

Because it implies that the players should be grateful for what they're getting instead of, you know, direct compensation.

 

[All4SU]

Because it implies that the players should be grateful for what they're getting instead of, you know, direct compensation.

Not at all. It states that if a player is talented enough to earn an athletic scholarship he can parlay that into real wealth.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

Not at all. It states that if a player is talented enough to earn an athletic scholarship he can parlay that into real wealth.

But not through his immediate talents. And there-in lies the core of my argument.

 

[upperdeck]

so football players are like interns , you mean like grad students who make dirt and go to school do research and then also have to pay for living expenses?

 

[hoopsupstate]

I cannot begin to understand how people think a free education is somehow a worthwhile substitute for cold hard cash. Just because you think its a good deal doesn't mean it is a good deal.

Ask former players who didn’t play in the NFL, but made millions due to their education. 99% of players don’t play in the NFL, so don’t say their education doesn’t mean anything.

 

[sufandu]

My health insurance is considered a benefit, not direct compensation. And I don’t work exclusively for that health insurance - I work to make money.

Who cares about students paying to attend school? That’s such a red herring. I went to Le Moyne to take classes. I wasn’t specifically brought in to play a sport like most guy on football team X or Y.

And what does school prestige have to do with anything? Are you implying that the schools are doing these guys a favor?

And also, I don’t understand the “then don’t be an athlete” thing. You realize a guy who wants to make the NFL isn’t going to make it without access to training, games, and tape, right? The NFL doesn’t allow players out of high school for less than 3 years. So where else are players supposed to go?

With all you're saying, just don't connect athletics to the schools at all then.

Like it or not, your health insurance and any other benefit you recieve are part of your compensation package. Ask the accountants thag work for your company. Ask any management and union negotiating employee contracts. It's why when some big union goes on strike and the news reports on compensation numbers, they include all of that in the figure.

Your second paragraph doesn't even make sense.

School prestige matters. Why did you choose Lemoyne over your fall back schools? Why does someone choose Harvard over Syracuse? Why does everyone on here make such a big deal over SU's communications program compared to the programs at other schools? Because some schools offer better education and more opportunities than others. So if someone benefits from relaxed admissions standards it shouldn't be ignored.

I didn't tell them not to be an athlete. I said if they don't like the trade offs they don't have to be. So many people talk about college athletes as if they're being raked over the coals against their will. There's trade offs in life. If you want to be a doctor you get an undergrad degree, spend 4 years in med school, and do your internship and residency. If you're willing to give the military a certain chunk of your life, you can get a free education through ROTC. If they want to be pro athletes there are trade offs. Nobody is requiring them to make athletics their profession.

 

[MikeSU02]

I interned in college and did it on my own nickel just for the experience. What ever happened to paying your dues? I still think all this will come full circle after the damage is done and there will be a serious a$$ biting for all involved.

Holy cow.

There’s still people that push for unpaid internships?

Not to mention that your value (which should have been compensated in cash) isn’t close to what the players’ value brings, unless you were wildly unique.

I’m not agreeing with the OP necessarily, but this outlook is not it.

 

[Bayside44]

If we are going to arbitrarily cap the value of what a college athlete can receive, let’s do the same for coaches. They can make as much as a professor or college administrator and have a comfortable upper middle class life.

Tenure? Sabbaticals?

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

With all you're saying, just don't connect athletics to the schools at all then.

Like it or not, your health insurance and any other benefit you recieve are part of your compensation package. Ask the accountants thag work for your company. Ask any management and union negotiating employee contracts. It's why when some big union goes on strike and the news reports on compensation numbers, they include all of that in the figure.

Your second paragraph doesn't even make sense.

School prestige matters. Why did you choose Lemoyne over your fall back schools? Why does someone choose Harvard over Syracuse? Why does everyone on here make such a big deal over SU's communications program compared to the programs at other schools? Because some schools offer better education and more opportunities than others. So if someone benefits from relaxed admissions standards it shouldn't be ignored.

I didn't tell them not to be an athlete. I said if they don't like the trade offs they don't have to be. So many people talk about college athletes as if they're being raked over the coals against their will. There's trade offs in life. If you want to be a doctor you get an undergrad degree, spend 4 years in med school, and do your internship and residency. If you're willing to give the military a certain chunk of your life, you can get a free education through ROTC. If they want to be pro athletes there are trade offs. Nobody is requiring them to make athletics their profession.

So if you were at a job where your employer was making millions of dollars as a direct result of your efforts, and your reward was mostly training in a different field that may or may not pay off and is fully dependent on the effort you put in plus luck, you'd be on board because the company is prestigious?

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

Ask former players who didn’t play in the NFL, but made millions due to their education. 99% of players don’t play in the NFL, so don’t say their education doesn’t mean anything.

How many millionaires do you know?

 

[CarolinaCuse]

Less than 2% of all college football players make it to the NFL. That means 98% benefit from a free education and the network a collegiate experience brings (i.e, student-athletes, alums, professional networks, etc.). Does that mean they are entitled to the equitable rewards or revenue from a university with hundreds of years of history, investment, alumni, name recognition, etc.? I don't think so. As long as the student benefits and as long as they get to choose the path they take... which a large number do appropriately if they complete their degree, purely based on the main mission of the university. I can think of a many fields within a university which benefit (or not) disproportionately from their interns/co-ops/workers. In reality, no college or university would be as strong as they are without their academic mission and their graduates... even student-athletes.

 

[baggerbob]

And yet minor league baseball exists. And if a pro system for 18-19 football players existed, agents and other support systems would exist to help. (They already do.)

And without the names of the schools, it would be a minor league as in baseball, without the tv contracts.
The tv contracts are because of the school names and not because of the players.
And then there is no large amount of money to spend.

 

[sufandu]

So if you were at a job where your employer was making millions of dollars as a direct result of your efforts, and your reward was mostly training in a different field that may or may not pay off and is fully dependent on the effort you put in plus luck, you'd be on board because the company is prestigious?

That's not what I said. Go ahead and twist things though, that's fine.

 

[sufandu]

How many millionaires do you know?

I'm pretty sure there is at least one on this board that was a scholarship athlete.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

That's not what I said. Go ahead and twist things though, that's fine.

Who's twisting things? What I said is exactly what this boils down to.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

I'm pretty sure there is at least one on this board that was a scholarship athlete.

1.

 

[sufandu]

Who's twisting things? What I said is exactly what this boils down to.

Ok. If you say so.

 

[sufandu]

1.

That I know of. Do you think that's the only one, or that they only exist on this board?

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

Ok. If you say so.

Honestly, I'm going to pull the pin on this conversation.

I have a huge interest in labor history, and this is something I have thought long and hard about. If you don't agree, that's fine, but my argument has significant historical merit, and I'm pretty steadfast on it. So I'm not going to further ruin my night by going Don Quixote on a message board.

 

[All4SU]

How many millionaires do you know?

Far more than NFL players.

 

[sufandu]

If we are going to arbitrarily cap the value of what a college athlete can receive, let’s do the same for coaches. They can make as much as a professor or college administrator and have a comfortable upper middle class life.

I think that's a great idea.

 

[Bayside44]

I think that's a great idea.

Those guys literally never lose their jobs.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I interned in college and did it on my own nickel just for the experience. What ever happened to paying your dues?