Should College Football Players Receive Pay? Essay Example

The issue of paying college football athletes has long been discussed by authorities, journalists, coaches and athletes. The crucial question to pay or not has not yet gained an unambiguous answer. Since this problem involves many concurrent questions, apart from the facts sustaining two contradictory standpoints.

The article “College Football Players Deserve Pay for Play” by an ESPN college football analyst Rod Gilmore was published on January 17, 2007 at ESPN.com. The title of article points at the main idea; the author persistently convinces the audience of necessity to pay college athletes for playing. He claims that college football along with NFL has become the element of the entertainment industry, which is at large profits from television broadcasts, tickets selling, and promotion rights. Consequently, Rob Gilmore traces the distribution of revenues. Money is spent to provide coaches’ salaries and extensive training facilities. The average coach salary ranges from $ 1 million to $ 2 million per year. Gilmore considers the current state of affairs unfair; he persists that players should receive some compensation not “to envious and feel exploited” (Gilmore).

John Stevens, a contributor to online Bleacher Report, a sports network run by fans, in the article “Should Major Athletes Receive Pay for Play?” (May 13, 2008) approaches this problem form another standpoint. His conclusions about paying college athletes are not definite. Stevens asserts that amateur sport is colossal business itself. He reproaches NCAA authorities for their belief that college football players should “be solely focused on their “student life” and competing in an “amateur” environment” and simultaneous involvement of competitions in capitalism (Stevens). Stevens’ idea has something in common with Rod Gilmore’s estimation of college football as an extremely profitable sphere. Stevens also acknowledges the necessity of expenses for facilities and coach salaries.

It is hard to object to Rod Gilmore in his logical and precise arguments of pay substantiation. Obviously, college football players who produce enormous yearly revenues for teams, for their educational institutions, for brand-new stadiums do deserve to acquire compensation for their sports labor. It is a known fact that accomplishments in sports equate to hours-long training, health problems, poor progress in education, limited personal time. Therefore, it is not fair to refer to the equivalent value of “free education” and players’ labor. Years ago, it used to be a brilliant, disinterested, and patriotic opinion. Presently, statistics proves that this outdated concept is not working. According to Gilmore, “the national average graduation rate is 55 percent for Division I-A football players” (Gilmore).

Another significant aspect concerning the issue is possible hazards of paying cash to students. John Stevens mentions reported profits from games by Texas ($ 42 million) or Michigan ($ 37 million) and calculates possible annual earnings of college athletes. He is sure that such sums of money are likely to evoke problems with students’ behavior. It stands to reason, because, at this age, most students are in charge of their parents and do not possess or command personal funds.

However, Gilmore does not state that coaches’ salaries should be diminished, or stadiums should not be upgraded, or, finally, players have to get money in cash.  There is no doubt, these expenses assure sports accomplishments and enable progress. Gilmore suggests establishing a trust meant to save some of the athletes’ present revenues for future education or business. This proposal sounds reasonable.

The current subject matter of nationwide heated debates does not discuss some abstract ideas. It concerns plans for education, goals of adult life of many talented young athletes. The positive resolution of the question (“to pay or not to pay”) promises them changes for better.

Works Cited

Gilmore, Rod. “College football players deserve pay for play”. 17 Jan. 2007. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.

Stevens, John. “Should major college athletes receive pay for play?” 13 May. 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.