Confessions of a Former NFL Agent

That was a hellava read.

Not all athletes get a full ride with their athletic scholarships. It also is a challenge to fully commit to both academic excellence and athletics even if you do try hard simply because time is really constrained. I've never done athletics in college, but I'm have a pretty full schedule with just 15 credit hours.

Excellent read, SS. The one thing the NCAA "says" it looks out for is the student-athlete. I just don't believe it. There's really no black and white answer when it comes to these student-athlete's receiving some sort of compensation, beyond the scholarship. Let's be honest- most schools don't emphasize the academic portion when it comes to D1 football players.

OK, they give these students full rides whereby these athletes wouldn't normally receive an education in higher learning. But when you're being told football is a higher priority than all else, you're pretty much not going to use that education down the road (post-football). Of course there's always exceptions to the rule- Stanford and Notre Dame promote an even balance b/t successful classroom and field performance. But for every dollar a school spends on a football player, they're making a multiple of that in revenue (which provides for the other sports, as mentioned here already).

Remember that wide receiver out of Alabama, Prothro? Sure, the Tide loved when he was catching touchdowns. As soon as he destroyed his leg, I haven't heard from him. Injuries are part of the game... but the current structure promotes an unjust outcome in case it happens. At least injured players in the NFL received payment, beforehand. Taking out insurance doesn't tip the scales, either.

I knew Mel was a dirty no good crooked son of a b!tch but not that crooked. Amazing piece...what a dirty game.

I KNEW that speed reading course would pay off.....

Great Read, It's funny because I live in a Big College city and know current NFL Stars that played here and most of those players were " taking care of " if you know what I mean..

It happens at every big time program

Wait, you mean most college kids can't afford SUV's with 20" rims?

We'll have Josh Luchs on Mike & Mike Wednesday morning at 9:15 to take more about this

That's very debatable. Most economists that have researched Div. 1 college athletics conclude that most schools don't make a profit off football & basketball. The consistently successful schools do, but for every one of them there are 10-20 schools that invested millions in capital improvements such as stadiums & they're still waiting to get out of the red.

In addition, revenue generating sports pay for non-revenue sports & title 9 requires schools to fund women's sports equitably, most if not all of which don't generate revenue.

The system is defnitely flawed, but paying the kids, even a small stipend, would really be an ethical challenge & regulatory nightmare IMO. How would such a stipend be regulated? One of the problems w/college athletics is each school tries to keep up w/the jones.' It's not enough to have a huge state of the art stadium, big programs have indoor practice facilities, new gyms & a/v equipment, etc. I can imagine how some schools would find a way to circumvent ncaa rules to pay players more than what their stipend allowed.



then Why doesn't the NCAA move to a revenue sharing program similar to what the MLB does. If you look at the MLB the Yanks give away 25+% of their yearly income back to the revenue sharing program. Why Not tax it like that and give a check to every student athlete with over a 3.0 gpa and make em sign a contract to where they don't have to pay it back if they graduate and they do if they don't . All the scholar-ship student athletes would need is like 7500 a semester. which im sure The Ohio State could foot for every student-athlete in the entire NCAA by their lonesome. Just My opinion.

My buddy just facebook'd that he works at the same real estate firm as Luchs, just at a different office.

At least with Prop 62 these student athletes can earn some additional money on their own. For the longest time they couldn't even do that