From The MailBag: “Should College Athletes Be Paid?”

Thank you guys for responding to my question about what you want me to write about! I think I’ll make a series called “From the MailBag” that answers your questions. Here’s the first.

Question 1: What are your thoughts on paying college athletes?

I’ve given a considerable amount of thought to this subject because I’ve lived through the college athletics experience. For those of you who don’t know, I was lucky enough to earn a full athletic scholarship to Kansas State University to play football. While I am extremely grateful for my free education, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the hypocrisy of the NCAA.

The NCAA, college football specifically, has built a juggernaut of a business over the last couple of decades. The NCAA and the schools who comprise the NCAA are making hundreds of millions of dollars off of television rights, ticket sales, donations, merchandise, and branding rights. In fact, Forbes cites that in 2013, just the University of Texas football team had an income of $109 million, bringing the team’s net worth to $139 million. That same team payed their coach, Mack Brown, $5.2 million that season and the athletic director, DeLoss Dodds, made north of $600,000.

Now with that said, I know that not every college program makes the money the University of Texas makes and I’m also aware that not every sport produces a profit as football does. But I do feel strongly that college athletes should get paid something while the buzzards around them are profiting off their ability and likenesses.

While I was attending K-State, the athletes were given one meal, books and tuition paid for, and $500 a month for food and rent. $500! That barely covered rent, much less food. I was lucky enough to have parents who didn’t mind sending me cash from time to time but so many of my teammates were flat broke while making the university millions of dollars on Saturday afternoons.

Here’s what I’m suggesting- pay the kids what’s fair. If you can pay your coach several million dollars, is it out of the question to give the players a few thousand bucks a month to live off? Absolutely not. College athletics is a full time job (I used to put in upwards of 60 hours a week) and the players need to be compensated fairly while earning their education from the school they are greatly benefitting through their athletic endeavors.

Agree? Disagree? (Or have another question?) Tell me in the comments below!

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