Should College Football Players Be Paid?

            Over the past thirty years, the controversial question keeps reappearing: should college football players be paid? Some people think a scholarship enough for an eighteen-year-old kid while others believe college football players work just as hard as an NFL athlete and deserve a weekly check too.

            People who believe in not paying college football players have multiple reasons. The main reason remains the fact that a scholarship can cover 200,000 to 400,000 dollars worth of school that many other college students struggle to pay years after their graduation. The reason these players are granted scholarships is to attend college to receive an education.

Granted these student-athletes earn their scholarship through football, but critics still don’t believe that extra money should be given to the players. The majority of the money colleges make off football funds other smaller sports within the college. Other college sports do require athletes to focus all of their spare time to sports. Would it be fair to only pay football players since they create more of the revenue?

            Also, how could smaller colleges have the ability to pay their players if the program does not receive much revenue? Colleges that belong to major conferences like the SEC, Big 12, and Pac 12 would probably have no problem with providing the money. Smaller schools like South Alabama or South Dakota State do not receive a lot of money or attention. The most money these teams make is when they are offered checks to play bigger schools. These smaller schools would also lose many of the few recruits they have due to bigger schools paying their players. The recruiting process for teams like Arkansas State are not easy as it is, but if bigger programs began to offer 200$ a week is an easy decision for potential college football players.

            On the other side of the argument, people have contested the current NCAA rules and want to pay players for the service they provide to their colleges. Modern day colleges make millions of dollars off of their football teams, and the players see none of that money.

            The major reason for this side of the argument is football players produce a huge amount of revenue for their universities, but NCAA rules allow players to receive no money at all. If a player were to sign memorabilia and receive money, they would be penalized. Also, players are not allowed to have a job on the side due to them playing a sport. The current NCAA rules are deemed “broke” by supporters of this argument. A recent incident of an NCAA violation was this past summer when reigning Heisman Winner Johnny Manziel supposedly signed memorabilia for a broker in Miami and received payment.

            In my opinion, a good compromise between the two arguments is a re-writing of the NCAA rules. I think players should be allowed to make a profit off of their fame and be able to accept sponsorships while in college. Also, I think a small percentage of the earnings made by the individual players should go to funding more academic scholarships. I don’t think the current NCAA rule set is completely broken, but it is definitely outdated. A re-vamped rule set could bring a more positive view of college football and allow colleges to accept more students, creating a better overall college experience.