Collegiate Athletes.... Pay for Play??

College players, pay for play? Absolutely not. I admit, the life of a DI college football player is not far from that of a professional, and I realize they probably do more than any other student, or student-athlete for that matter, on campus. However, I truly think the love for the game is much more apparent when the players are not getting paid. Having them get paid would turn it more similar to the NFL, like a business, where possibly people with the exceptional talent are only doing it because of the money. College football players, (especially here at UT and all of the other big universities) get special treatment, very special treatment. They often times get school paid for, the prestige and recognition of playing for a D1 program, awesome meals and hotel accommodations on game day- These are things that in my opinion allow them to still enjoy the game and have a good time. By them playing without pay we see the true dedication, and makes us support the program that much more. The boys are in college, I know it was argued by Gilmore that having their school paid for doesn’t mean much because most of them don’t graduate—BUT stop right there. This is a separate problem in and of itself that I feel like large changes should be made about. However, I don’t think we should go AROUND the problem by saying, “Don’t pay for their school, they don’t graduate anyway, let’s just give them money!” I don’t think it should be that way at all, instead, things should be focused on the academic realm of a student-athlete, and having their tuition paid for at such a world class college such as UT can do a lot to pay them off. Several players would do anything to play for UT or DI. It takes extreme passion and dedication, which makes us admire the players that much more. I don’t mean to take away from the players credit by saying they should not get paid, because I realize they work SOOO hard. Instead, I really agree with the “earning college credit” argument. I think that would be a great idea. These boys are putting in well over 20 hours a week, and perhaps getting at LEAST 3 or 6 hours a semester credit would be a great idea. However, we must remember the academic aspect, and be sure they are also still taking around 3 actual classes that involve their degree. Perhaps a special degree plan should be made for collegiate football players. For example, Sports Management/ Football, where you would take the sports management curriculum, however football could be your minor, or provide the credit to get you up the 120 hours needed for graduation.