The charade is over. College athletes are now employees.

They’re not being forced to pay now. They’re being forced to allow third parties to pay. They’re not allowed to get together and agree that nobody will pay. That’s collusion/price fixing.

If the ruling comes down that all the athletes playing college sports are actually employees, then the courts can absolutely require the schools to pay them. That’s not extortion, it’s labor laws.

 

That’s a little different than what we’re currently talking about and would not prevent the athletes from being able to profit from their NIL, so the money still doesn’t just go away.

 

And that's the fallacy in the whole thing. If the schools are getting, let's say, 60 million dollars each for TV rights. That is part of the Billion dollar plus industry that the players want a piece of. Well, guess what, that 60 million goes to the SCHOOL which is NOT ALLOWED to pay the players with. It has to come from Gatorland Toyota or an A/C company from Gainesville. That is not the level of money the players are looking for, they (or more precisely lawyers and agents) want in on the Billions and right now there is no mechanism for them to get a piece of it.

 

What’s your point and what does that have to do with your argument that the schools should tell everyone who wants to get paid to pound sand? You’re just yelling at the clouds and don’t have a real solution. Even crushers club team idea doesn’t prevent NIL the money from flowing.

 

A CBA is likely. Public state colleges could also just treat the athletes like the janitorial staff and pay them a fixed hourly rate.

 

Other than going back to the way it was 20 years ago, my solution is to have two leagues, one that pays and one that is for student athletes. One is professional with unions, contracts, and other requirements and one is like it was in the more traditional times. Schools get to decide which they want to be in as do the players. The schools in each then do not play each other in the regular season and have two championships. Once a player chooses a path, they are in that league for their college career, can still change schools but only to another school in that same league.
Players should also be more honest with themselves about their NFL chances. There are probably north of 11,000 division 1 players on scholarship and most of them think they are getting one of the 250 or so draft slots each year. The strategy above might help some of them.

 

You don’t just get to decide who’s allowed to make money and who isn’t. Both of your leagues are still eligible to recieve NIL money. All students are, that’s the whole point of the USSC ruling.

FYI, there was plenty of money flowing around 20 years ago.

 

I absolutely 100% think students should get NIL, but right now we have pay for play. Schools are just skirting around it calling it NIL since it comes from boosters/collectives. If a student is approached by a car dealer to do a commercial or a sports memorabilia place wants to pay someone to autograph things, then that's fantastic. They should get paid. Or like that kicker from UCF that had a youtube channel on a kicking clinic that the NCAA got in a hissy about a few years ago. That's perfectly fine. That is not what is going on in the current climate and everyone knows that.

 

SMU was about 40 years ago and the Bear was stock piling players as far back as the early 60's.
Some people just have a weird memory.

 

That's right, it would have nothing to do with NIL, but the money that would go away is the athletic event revenue to each school. Actually if there are ANY Club sport athletes getting NIL currently, it might actually be true NIL. Going to a club sports model wouldn't change NIL at all, but it could prevent the ridiculous concept of athletes being employees of the University.

 

As long as the athletes are doing something for the money, it is technically NIL. I agree that it’s really pay for play, but that’s pretty much unenforceable. If the contracts aren’t tied to the school and the athlete performs a service for the money, you can’t really do anything about it.

 

I had a similar argument with a poster a few years ago who suggested that Jalen Hurts was a RB playing QB. His recent accomplishments at the QB position speak for themselves. As for Lamar Jackson, I wouldn't suggest that he's as good as Mahommes, but he may be a better passing QB than you give him credit for. In 2023 . . .

Player..........yds/at.....cmp%.....TD.....int.....rate.....20+
Mahommes....7.0...........67.2.........27.....14.....92.6......50
Jackson.........8.0...........67.2.........24.....7.......102.7....51

Glad you won $ on the game, though. Good call.

 

Interest would also likely go away, and you’d have a lot of kids looking for semi pro or pro leagues instead of colllege. People’s focus is on football, but this will have a much further reach.

 

Yes they recruit (I was recruited by a handful of Ivy track teams back in my day). Most importantly they have admissions slots that help them get their recruited athletes into the school. Remember the Varsity Blues scandal a few years ago where rich parents were bribing coaches to give their admissions slots to their kids? The Ivy's have those slots like everyone else. In fact I think a couple Ivy coaches like the Yale women's soccer coach got caught up in that.

The main difference is that none of the athletes gets athletic scholarships. Now those schools will offer other kinds of scholarships: academic, need-based, etc. But you need to actually qualify for them.

 

He’s a fringe top 10 quarterback. When he’s past 30 and he doesn’t have those legs anymore, he will probably be out of the league unless he learns to get better

 

Fringe top 10 is average? That assessment is debatable anyway. Psst . . . . he's the leading candidate for NFL MVP.

 

I guess 16 would be exactly average and he did win an MVP, but he scored exactly one touchdown in his playoff game is MVP year when those playoff defences tighten up a little bit. an MVP would suggest he was the best player in the NFL and I think that’s total bullshit.

 

You called Lamar Jackson an avg NFL QB and it was a mistake. So far your evidence is a poor performance in the AFC championship game (there's a reason he led the Ravens that far). Just own your mistake and move on.

 

Multiple playoff failures. He only scored one td the year he won mvp also. He’s not a great qb yet in my opinion. Without legs, he’s no better than average.
The vaunted KC defense stuffed him

 

You've got opinions and anecdotes for a flawed claim. I will share one last evidence-based post debunking your suggestion that Lamar Jackson is an avg NFL QB.

"Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen are almost indisputably the top three quarterbacks in the NFL."
NFL Power Rankings, playoff QB edition: Top-shelf QBs are more valuable than ever - Yahoo Sports.

#3 according to this source
2023 Top 10 NFL quarterbacks: Ranking the best QBs after Patrick Mahomes | FOX Sports

#3 again
NFL QB Rankings 2024: Patrick Mahomes, who's better? Chiefs QB steals show in AFC Championship again

#5 in QBR
NFL Football Player Stats & Stats Leaders - QB Rating

#1 in 2023
NFL QB Index: Ranking all 32 teams' primary starting quarterbacks at the end of the 2023 regular season

Graded #2
NFL QB Position Grades | PFF

But sure, keep beatin' the drum that he's an average NFL QB.