(10-30-2019 08:33 AM)Flippmb Wrote:  First of all, to anyone who argues that athletes should be paid because colleges are making enormous profits from their athletic departments, you need to check your facts. The vast majority of athletic departments operate in the red.

Second, if the NCAA allows unfettered endorsement deals, it's going to unleash a free-for-all, with rich boosters bidding for players to come to their schools. Now, I don't really care if a rich Alabama-booster car dealer gets in a price war with a rich Auburn-booster car dealer to see who can offer the best endorsement deal to entice some hotshot 5-star high school quarterback to come to their school. But, all this will accomplish is the rich will get richer, and 99% of collegiate athletes will be no better off than before.

So, if the current system is unfair to those one-percenter college athletes, then remove any restrictions that keep him or her from going pro. Each athlete will be free to decide if he/she would rather be an amateur college athlete or be paid to play (and endorse products) in a professional league.

All that said, I'm actually in favor of allowing athletes to be compensated for endorsements, with the following caveat. All endorsement monies go into a pool, which is then distributed among all athletes at all schools. If the one-percenters don't like that deal, they can go pro.

How is the athletic grant viewed these days? I knew some guys back in the day who would not have been able to attend college without the athletic grant. There were no student loans which is, of course, a whole other issue today. At least the modern athlete can leave college without a huge debt, which seems significant given the growing student debt problem. This compensating the “student-athlete” above and beyond his/her college costs while his “classmates” pile on debt seems warped. But, paying these coaches these millions is even more twisted given what higher education claims to be and represent. These are strange times in higher education, which is likely unsustainable in its present set up.