CSNbbs

Army’s QB better get paid big. He volunteered to serve his country and play ball. A West Point degree is not enough. Pay the man his NIL. Right?

Personally, I would have absolutely no issue with the OP hypothetical.

However, my understanding is that service academy athletes cannot receive NIL because all service academy students (whether athletes or not) are actually considered to be military employees where federal laws prohibit all of them (whether a cadet or colonel) to profit off of their military status while serving. In that sense, service academy students aren’t treated any differently than any other non-athlete student at the academy or any other military personnel in general. Federal law also provides a completely different level of deference to the military on a whole host of matters, including employment restrictions. Those are significant distinctions with other universities.

(05-10-2022 06:59 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote: [ -> ]Personally, I would have absolutely no issue with the OP hypothetical.

However, my understanding is that service academy athletes cannot receive NIL because they are actually considered to be military employees where federal laws prohibit all of them (whether a cadet or colonel) to profit off of their military status while serving. In that sense, service academy students aren’t treated any differently than any other non-athlete student at the academy or any other military personnel in general. Federal law also provides a completely different level of deference to the military on a whole host of matters, including employment restrictions. Those are significant distinctions with other universities.

They've probably already legally signed things that would allow for them to be excluded from NIL as well. Does playing on the teams count as "recruitment activities" or anything along the lines that would make it easy to classify as official service?



Also, just to nit-pick the thread title a bit: no one is being paid to play. NIL technically has nothing to do with playing (and legally it's supposed to be that way). That people play allows them to have a bigger name recognition which is then used for NIL contracts. But NIL contracts aren't "For each game you play you get $X" they're "stay famous and please be good." Yeah it's being abused to get people to go to specific schools, but they're still not tied to any specific amount of play time, just that the person go to the school in question.

They're not allowed to accept any NIL money. It's part of their enlistment agreement.

(05-10-2022 07:09 PM)MattBrownEP Wrote: [ -> ]They're not allowed to accept any NIL money. It's part of their enlistment agreement.

Which makes them irrelevant?

(05-10-2022 07:09 PM)MattBrownEP Wrote: [ -> ]They're not allowed to accept any NIL money. It's part of their enlistment agreement.

They also receive $13,800 a year in base pay.

(05-11-2022 06:26 AM)ken d Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-10-2022 07:09 PM)MattBrownEP Wrote: [ -> ]They're not allowed to accept any NIL money. It's part of their enlistment agreement.

They also receive $13,800 a year in base pay.

Most of that money goes into the Cadet Account to pay for uniforms, books, laundry, haircuts and some other expenses and fees.

(05-11-2022 01:35 AM)billybobby777 Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-10-2022 07:09 PM)MattBrownEP Wrote: [ -> ]They're not allowed to accept any NIL money. It's part of their enlistment agreement.

Which makes them irrelevant?

to the NIL discussion, yeah.
The Seal Team Six guys couldn't cash in on getting Osama to sell Wheaties while on active duty, sane deal for a Navy QB.

(05-11-2022 06:58 AM)johnbragg Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-11-2022 01:35 AM)billybobby777 Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-10-2022 07:09 PM)MattBrownEP Wrote: [ -> ]They're not allowed to accept any NIL money. It's part of their enlistment agreement.

Which makes them irrelevant?

to the NIL discussion, yeah.
The Seal Team Six guys couldn't cash in on getting Osama to sell Wheaties while on active duty, sane deal for a Navy QB.

Yes, there’s a significant public policy difference with NIL restrictions for military members or any federal employee in general.

In the “normal” world of college sports, “corruption” means a booster paying NIL money to a top recruit so that such recruit will pick the booster’s school to another school. We can all debate whether that’s right or wrong, but it’s ultimately a pure sports competition issue that only impacts our enjoyment of non-essential entertainment.

In the world of federal employees, “corruption” mean a defense contractor paying NIL money to a military member that can then influence a decision a procurement decision in favor of that defense contractor over others. That’s a completely different and broader societal and national security problem beyond sports.

It’s really a conflict of interest issue with respect to national security that matters much more than an issue with enticing someone to play at a service academy. Also note that this applies to every federal employee (not just service academy athletes), which is completely different than the rest of college sports (where the law has come down hard on the fact that athletes have been forced to be subject to different rules than other students, coaches, administrators, professors, etc.).