A college Calculus class is filled with students at 8 a.m. on any given fall day. Amidst the students, there is a section of tutors in the corner taking notes. They have been hired by the university to help student-athletes with their school work. The restrictions on what a tutor can do for the athlete are far from strict. A Division I football player might not make it to class the entire semester. Whether flying across the country to play a game airing on ESPN or participating in daily practices, school work is usually the least of their concerns. Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones voiced his opinion on the issue, saying that players should not have to go to class when they came to school to play football.
With most Division I student-athletes receiving a scholarship, it’s safe to say the money is not necessarily being coughed up for their academic career. The NCAA provides more than $1.5 billion in athletic scholarships annually, according to NCAA.org. This covers tuition, room and board and required books.
Regardless of the scholarships and academic help, if student-athletes were to be paid, then how would their salaries be determined? If there was a base salary for each individual, then the starting quarterback might have a problem with being paid the same amount as the backup kicker. If the salary were to be based on performance, exactly how could anybody determine the value of a key block to set up a touchdown return versus the man who returned it?
A third option might be to pay players for their jersey sales. It’s hard to believe that the purple and yellow East Carolina jersey will outsell the red and gold jersey of Southern California, regardless of the individual’s performance. Also, what’s stopping a booster from southern Texas telling top recruit John Doe he will buy 10,000 jerseys of his if Mr. Doe attends Texas A&M rather than rival Texas Tech?
While student-athletes put in an extraordinary amount of work for the team, I do not believe it warrants a salary. The benefits received by the athletes are enough compensation for their work. They ultimately do not deserve to be paid, and if they did, the salary determination would be all too dicey.