College sports bring in a lot of money each year at the major college level. These programs contribute $30 and sometimes $40 million dollars per year to universities and colleges and the players get nothing. These are the same players who are breaking their backs for college day in and day out and can’t get a piece of that money and to me that doesn’t seem fair. I know what you may be thinking: that these student-athletes are getting a free education or have gotten a scholarship to play ball at that college. To me, that’s the least they could be doing.

When I watch college football on Saturdays and see stadiums packed with cheering fans paying big bucks for a ticket, I say, what business could run a company and not pay their workers? You would think he was talking about some Third World country! Pay players now please!

Think about this: Most college coaches make six-figure salaries — college programs big and small. Some of these college coaches get shoe contracts, others get television and radio contracts and many other perks along the way. Also, if they are good coaches and win games, they will be offered another coaching job elsewhere with more money and higher benefits. Student athletes get nothing and in my opinion something needs to be done about it. Please pay players now!

They will keep telling you that athletes are getting free education, free books, free room and board, and the opportunity for a good college education that will last a lifetime. And that! Pay the players! I see this whole university thing as slave labor! Coaches make a lot of money at the expense of these players. You hear stories about college athletes taking money or getting paid under the table. You hear these stories of players getting cars and lots of cash, you hear stories of players getting all this and more. You hear that players’ families get cars and houses to attend that college program. This happens all the time in secret!

Why do players take this money and cars and houses for their families and much more? Well, one of the reasons is recruitment; Some college programs feel that to get a top college recruit they have to offer these things. Some college programs (not all) have to give something to get these kids. Some of these players come from poor backgrounds, so for these kids getting some money is a big problem, especially if the players and their families don’t have any money anyway.

Being a college athlete is very difficult. In the first place, the amount of hours that these players dedicate is a lot, every day of every week. They’re in class all day, then there’s practice after practice, they go out to dinner if they can, and then they go off to study. Now all of this may sound simple to you, but the amount of time these student-athletes are putting in is enormous. So the coaches want more. There could be a movie to study and there could be times when the athletic trainer is watching them. As a student athlete, you have to focus on your studies and sports performance or they will try to get rid of you.

College athletics is tough. Sometimes at the end of the day you are exhausted and don’t feel like studying or if they have some kind of study table for the players you may not be able to fully concentrate and often your attention is elsewhere. Just think of the millions of people who go to work every day. They work long hours and may have long commutes to and from home. I’m sure the last thing working people want to do is spend extra hours doing more work. Most workers want to kick back, maybe have a beer and watch some TV, and then call it a day. The big difference is that they are paid for service and time and college players are not.

Most college student-athletes don’t get their college degrees and one of the reasons is the practices and games they play. There is so much pressure to do well that something falls apart and that something is their education. College coaches have been known to look the other way when it comes to student athletes and their academics, as long as that player can help win games.

For most college athletes, when their eligibility runs out, college programs no longer need their services. Why would they? For 4 years, these college programs have put these young men and women to work every day. College programs have gotten all they could get from these players and then some. At the college level or any level, it’s just about winning games and making a lot of money.

Take a look at baseball; If a high school baseball player is really good, he may be offered a contract to sign with a major league baseball team. Sometimes the offer is $200,000 and, I’ve heard, up to $2 million. Now, if that high school baseball player takes that money, he will lose his college eligibility. Some high school baseball players transfer the money to attend college where they can improve, hone their baseball skills, and get drafted back to a major league team. Many high school baseball players take the money and use the opportunity to try to make it in the major leagues. Many players never make it to the majors. Some play in the minor leagues for years until they realize their dream of playing in the majors isn’t going to come true and move on to something else.

Once you take that money, you can’t go back and try to play college baseball. The same is true for all other sports. You’ll have high school basketball players trying to make it to the NBA; you’ve got young guys trying out for the NFL. Many of these athletes never gave education a chance and many who are in college never got their degree.

College athletes struggle with their studies. Many don’t graduate and some just quit altogether. College athletics isn’t for everyone and many student athletes can’t make it, so pay the players! Pay them something for all their time and effort!

When these college programs play bowling games and make millions at the expense of the players and the players still get nothing, that’s wrong. When it’s “March Madness” time for college basketball and millions are glued to the TV every day for hours and players are giving it their all, they still get nothing!

Why would paying players be a problem? Schools are making millions of dollars either way. This is not Mexico or China, where workers are paid $1.00 an hour to earn billions for some corporation, you know, slave labor!

Why do you think players take money from many external sources? Why are players suspended from the team for breaking team rules? Why are university programs on probation? Everything is for money. You have a lot of players who come from disadvantaged backgrounds where there is no money in their families. If these underprivileged young student-athletes had to pay for college out of their own pocket, most would not be in any college.

Some student athletes come from backgrounds where the educational system is not that good. Their school districts are underfunded and poorly managed. For many student athletes, their way out is a full athletic scholarship education. Playing a sport is your future. Many student athletes just focus on athletics thinking that one day they will be good enough to play in the pros. So when the money dangles in the faces of some student athletes, the temptation has to be overwhelming!

For many years we have heard stories of players and coaches who have gotten into trouble over money. We’ve heard of situations where the NCAA eliminated entire college programs because players were given money. Why do they do it? Why is money a problem? One reason is that it’s easy to get certain types of players from certain types of environments. Great college programs can only survive with great college players to get paid. We all know that paying college athletes is wrong (established by NCAA guidelines). But this rule has to change now.

If college athletes get scholarships, then they can be paid. If players get paid, then I think more college athletes would graduate from college because there would be a stronger incentive to work hard in the classroom. Bigger colleges pay college coaches more based on their performance and players should get paid too.

If the players get paid, this corruption would stop. No more players paying for reinforcements, no more college players selling their shoes, no more college players taking jobs that pay them big bucks just for working a few hours. It’s tough for a student athlete! Did you know that a non-student athlete can get a job to earn extra money and can stick to their schedules, but a student athlete cannot have a job until the school year is over and there are restrictions on the type of work they must do? realize? He can have.

In college sports, the rules are not fair to college athletes! The playing field is not equal. Pay the players!

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