Altamaha, the system could be set up like soccer clubs in Europe. A player signs a contract with a team for a certain salary plus free college. The school gets the player and his rights. At the end of their eligibility, the NFL, CFL and WWE have the opprtunity to buy the rights of the player from the universities. You could let the market decide the players rights’ value or cap it based on draft status.

This way the schools that sign lesser recruited kids still have a chance to be profitable by coaching the kids up and there would be more than one way to make money in college football.

Not all kids will pan out and earn the school money from the NFL but schools already take risks on every kid anyway (Sanks). Walk-ons/non-performers get a league minimum. This way it is all above the table and no school have to find ways to pay kids without getting caught…and the NCAA would not have to spend millions and millions on oversight.

I personally think they get enough now but this would be a way for everyone in the whole process to win (except the NFL…but hey either you pay or the CFL and WWF will).

Its not ever a question of fairness, its one of practical application. It’s not the “schools” that decide not pay these fellow. Hell if it were that simple, the Top $ schools, such as UGA would pounce on that.

Partial list of questions:

Does a star player get more money than a reserve?

Does a player at a richer, larger, school get more money?

Is it based on results, rankings, or school earning. UGA made more money than FL. Does Tebow deserve more or less money than the third string punter on UGA’s more profitable team?

What about the majority of football program in the country that do NOT earn a profit, how much do thier boys get?

Are we charging back expenses to the players?

The most basic question is: how great will College Football be when there is about 10 teams left? How nice all those 1000s of ex-football player dont have to be taken advantage of any more.

There should be a larger difference if you ask me.

I think you might find more sympathy on the tech blog.

These kids get plenty. The facilities and weight training were mentioned but they also get world class tutoring in their field of choice: football. How many dawgs are playing in the NFL? That has a lot to do with the coaching and football training that they receive at UGA. At the combine, Stafford was a stud on the whiteboard according to NFL people and that is because he got great coaching at UGA.

These kids are preparing for careers just like all the other students at UGA…this career just requires them to play football instead of man a desk someplace.

If they don’t want to play, don’t take the free ride!

Certainly a robust athletic program fuels overall enrollment and that certainly has a direct correlation to how many professors get to indoctrinate young trolls.

I am with you that “student athletes” receive significantly more than the so called tuition/room/board; heck, the out of state kids receive approx. $30K per year just for this, so if you consider that “pay” then they are making quite a decent “first year” salary for only having a high school education. True, it does not all go to their bank accounts, but it is also tax free, so they are really receiving approx. $45K per year if they had to pay taxes. The in state kids are receiving approx.$25K before taxes, so all in all, everyone, including the university and the players are winners in this deal. And all they have to do to receive this is make decent grades, go to practice and meetings, and work out 2 – 3 hours a day in the off season, something a lot of kids who are not on scholarship do everyday anyway!