Watch CBS News

BLOG: Paying College Athletes

One of the biggest misnomers when discussing whether or not to pay college athletes is "These kids bring all of this money to these institutions and get nothing for it." No, I'm not going in the direction of saying they get a scholarship. That point has been brought up so many times and falls on deaf ears. For some reason, society as a whole doesn't believe that's good enough anymore. I'm coming from the actual business end of things. The end that asks, "Why should I pay you when I could replace you?"

Recently, a caller stated that college players should get a portion of the jerseys that are sold with their numbers. That sounds good if you're an NFL team, but not so much for college. If fans of the University of Auburn bought a number 2 jersey last year for Cam Newton, it did not have the player's name on the back of the jersey. The fan bought it anyway because it was an Auburn jersey. If a great player wears that jersey in two years, the fan doesn't have to alter that jersey at all. It's still fashionable.

In college, it's about the institution. The players benefit more from the teams they play on than the other way around. For example, in 2009 Mark Ingram won the Heisman Trophy with 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns while averaging 6.1 yards per carry. Out West there was a young man who averaged 6.6 yards per carry with 1,808 yards and 19 touchdowns. That guy, Ryan Matthews of Fresno State did not get a sniff of Heisman consideration because of the school and the conference he was associated with. Ingram benefited from Alabama, not the other way around. Anyone who watches college football would tell you that an argument could have been made that Trent Richardson, Ingram's back-up was as capable of the same productivity. Who's Matthews' back-up?

No, I'm not taking anything away from Ingram. He is a talented guy who was fortunate enough to be able to take his talents to Alabama while Matthews, not so much… If given the opportunity, Matthews could have been the college football household name that Mark Ingram was.

Players in great programs don't make the great programs. The programs' names give these young people the chance to blow up. They are on television getting maximum exposure which increases their draft stock. Yes, the best schools get the best players, but the players chose those schools because of what the school can do for the player. If you are a Blue Chip top five prep quarterback, you're not signing a letter of intent to attend the University of Memphis to play football.

That brings another point. Less than a decade ago the Memphis basketball team attracted some of the top names in high school basketball. Why did those kids decide to attend that college who would not have made that decision before? That program hired a coach who was synonymous with, among other things, winning. Once that coach left, so did the hot recruits. That's why coaches get paid in college.

True, the players perform on the stage that's set for them, but if the current player did not do it, someone else would because everyone wants to play football at Florida State now.

Paying players is a temporary fix for a permanent problem. Greed has existed since the beginning of time and will never go away. If you give players $5,000 today, they will be happy until someone screams that $5,000 isn't good enough. If it's not enough to receive the perks that they have, let them sit home for three years and then call an NFL team and ask for a workout. Let's see how that works without the platform that college football has provided for them.

Look at the high draft bust picks who stole money because they played in a great program. Shouldn't the schools say, "Hey, send us a portion of your earnings. You knew you were not that good and so did we, yet we managed to place you in a position to get drafted." That will never happen. JaMarcus Russell isn't giving LSU his earnings. That guy would have never been considered if he did not do what he did in the SEC for LSU. Let's see if he's drafted number one overall putting up the same numbers in the Big Sky conference for Northern Arizona.

Let's stop with the entitlement. It's what is killing our society. Let's look at being "given" an opportunity to carve a niche for yourself in life. Besides, if your college football team doesn't turn a profit, does that give your school the right to hand the kid a bill? I'm just saying…

Rob Long – 105.7 The Fan On-air Host & Staff Writer

Follow Rob on Twitter: @RobLongSports

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.