Is Amateurism in College Football DOA?
The playing field of College Football is changing, seemingly by the minute, and it’s definitely not level. It’s more like at a 45-degree angle.
Players who pledged their loyalty to one school are now deciding to change schools in search of.…big money, big money from boosters and collectives with pockets so deep they go all the way to China.
Player valuations and potential NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals are in the 6 or 7 figure range. That could buy a ton of №2 pencils and 5-subject notebooks.
But instead, that kind of cash in the hands of young adults who haven’t taken one class on financial responsibility is a disaster in the making. At least the NFL discusses such money matters in their Rookie Symposium.
It’s the classic tale of the Haves vs The Have Nots. Sure, the Player of the Month can walk into any 5-star restaurant in Austin or Los Angeles and get a center table in the main dining room, while players in such college towns like Hattiesburg, MS are relegated to a corner booth at the local Krystal Burger.
NIL is the Wild West (cue the Kool Moe D lyrics). The Haves are the Magnificent Seven, the Have Nots are the Apple Dumpling Gang.
The NCAA, led most recently by President Mark Emmert, is supposed to be the law of amateur college sports. Under his leadership, or the lack thereof, the NCAA is no better at its job than before he arrived.
More often than not they just choose to stick their head in the sand like a bunch of ostriches. They dole out punishment only when it provides an opportunity to improve their tarnished image.
Emmert’s decision to step down was way past due, like an overripe banana. Now, the NCAA will try not to slip on the rotten peel he will leave behind.
Emmert may not be the worst NCAA President, but he is on the first row, center spot, in the group photo.
As a quote “governing body,” the NCAA ranks somewhere between a local school board and the Democratic Party.
Recently, the NCAA said that NIL needs some guardrails. Actually, it could use some steel-reinforced concrete barricades and a cadre of bomb-sniffing dogs.
Better yet, hire a Delta Force contingent made up of investigators from the SEC (that’s the Securities and Exchange Commission, not the toughest college football conference in all the land). Have them investigate and act on anything that resembles tampering and follow the money.
But that won’t happen, and the Haves know it.
Thanks for reading.
