College Football Players Union?

[corgifan]

I wish the players at Northwestern the best of luck with their desire to unionize. Fortunate for them that they're not located in Texas. If they were, boy would they be getting a civics lesson right about now! http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/...in-labor-union

[CenTexDave]

I doubt that this has a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding.

[bbh]

I just can't wrap my head around this one. The steelworkers union is apparently helping them file with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This is what the players want:

1. Minimize college athletes' brain trauma risks.

2. Raise the scholarship amount.

3. Prevent players from being stuck paying sports-related medical expenses.

4. Increase graduation rates.

5. Protect educational opportunities for student-athletes in good standing.

6. Prohibit universities from using a permanent injury suffered during athletics as a reason to reduce/eliminate a scholarship.

7. Establish and enforce uniform safety guidelines in all sports to help prevent serious injuries and avoidable deaths.

8. Eliminate restrictions on legitimate employment and players' ability to directly benefit from commercial opportunities.

9. Prohibit the punishment of college athletes that have not committed a violation.

10. Guarantee that college athletes are granted an athletic release from their university if they wish to transfer schools.

11. Allow college athletes of all sports the ability to transfer schools one time without punishment.

The ones in bold print are those that, at first glance, I have a problem with or have questions about. I know that this effort is mostly about #8....the ability to benefit from endorsements. Some college players don't seem to get this, but they are being paid for playing; they are receiving an education that would cost as much as $200,000 to $300,000.

Also, what is #9??? Does it mean that they don't want all players to have to run laps if one of them messes up? Or is there going to be the threat of a strike whenever the coach is being "mean" to them?

Sorry, corgi, this seems more to me about the continuing "wimping-out" of American society. I'm concerning about traumatic brain injuries, and I'm all for making helmets more protective, etc. I watch my husband struggle with pain in his back, neck, and arm from bone spurs pressing on nerves caused from high school and college football. I see the trouble he has with his knees and pray that he won't suffer brain function problems as he gets older, and I hope that my grandsons stick with baseball, basketball, and golf instead of playing football. But my husband knows that football was a choice for him. Nobody forced him to play, and nobody is forcing the guys today to play.

I just don't see how a players union in college athletics is viable effort. I think it will ruin the game and turn it into a logistical nightmare for the NCAA.

Just my opinion.

[kantwin]

At first glance, what I got from #9 was that if the "program" committed violations, say recruiting, or paying a player for something (tattoos, autographs, etc) and the NCAA imposed sanctions against the program, then the players that did NOT commit any of those violations are still being punished. They wan the punishment to be more targeted to the violator.

[CenTexDave]

Perhaps this is why Northwestern used to be the bottom dwellar of the Big Ten, and appears head there again.

[bbh]

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At first glance, what I got from #9 was that if the "program" committed violations, say recruiting, or paying a player for something (tattoos, autographs, etc) and the NCAA imposed sanctions against the program, then the players that did NOT commit any of those violations are still being punished. They wan the punishment to be more targeted to the violator.

Don't know where my head was, kantwin. You're right!

[onetime]

I would imagine how hard it would be for people that either paid for their post-secondary education out of pocket or received an athletic scholarship at a small school or within a sport other then football or basketball. A college athlete dedicates more then 60 hours a week on his craft, if you play for a large school like Texas it is easy to pick up these "work" hours from August through January. The school profits largely on the success of the football team, i.e. longhorn network, cost of tuition, the rise in student enrollment, longhorn apparel, and so on and so on. Someone mentioned that they receive a 200-300k education, which is absurd. Why do people always go to the most extreme case to try and prove their point? The cost to attend the university of Texas is about 90K, a little short of 200-300K right? On that note if I received an academic scholarship I would have the leeway to go out and get a job on the side, something that a college football player can not do.

The NCAA is a scam

1. I sign a scholarship, the coach can leave and take another job, but I am stuck unless I sit out a year of my eligibility in order to transfer.

2. they have to attend a university for three years in order to enter the NFL draft

3. Anyone can go purchase a jersey at a store and I do not receive one red cent.

4. Video games use to be able to use my likeness and again I would not receive a dime. (I get a check every so often now, thanks to the Obannons)

5. It is a violation for a college student to do more things then you would care to know.

Moving on, someone posted that America is wimping out now, and in less then a paragraph wrote that they hope their grandson steers away from football, holy contradiction.

Eventually the larger schools are going to dissolve their association with the NCAA and pay their players, this is not going to happen at Tarleton State or any places of that ilk, but Texas, A&M, and others will be doing it within the next ten years.

Lastly, if your husband in deed played college football then he would know first hand the commitment it required.

[CenTexDave]

I agree with ya.
Remember when the NCAA would dictate what teams played on TV? Enough schools got together, formed the College Football Association, took the NCAA to court and that was the end of the NCAA controlling TV.
Same will happen soon - I see 3 or 4 super conferences and the rest might as well drop down to Div II.

[bbh]

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I would imagine how hard it would be for people that either paid for their post-secondary education out of pocket or received an athletic scholarship at a small school or within a sport other then football or basketball. A college athlete dedicates more then 60 hours a week on his craft, if you play for a large school like Texas it is easy to pick up these "work" hours from August through January. The school profits largely on the success of the football team, i.e. longhorn network, cost of tuition, the rise in student enrollment, longhorn apparel, and so on and so on. Someone mentioned that they receive a 200-300k education, which is absurd. Why do people always go to the most extreme case to try and prove their point? The cost to attend the university of Texas is about 90K, a little short of 200-300K right? On that note if I received an academic scholarship I would have the leeway to go out and get a job on the side, something that a college football player can not do.



The NCAA is a scam

1. I sign a scholarship, the coach can leave and take another job, but I am stuck unless I sit out a year of my eligibility in order to transfer.

2. they have to attend a university for three years in order to enter the NFL draft

3. Anyone can go purchase a jersey at a store and I do not receive one red cent.

4. Video games use to be able to use my likeness and again I would not receive a dime. (I get a check every so often now, thanks to the Obannons)

5. It is a violation for a college student to do more things then you would care to know.

Moving on, someone posted that America is wimping out now, and in less then a paragraph wrote that they hope their grandson steers away from football, holy contradiction.

Eventually the larger schools are going to dissolve their association with the NCAA and pay their players, this is not going to happen at Tarleton State or any places of that ilk, but Texas, A&M, and others will be doing it within the next ten years.

Lastly, if your husband in deed played college football then he would know first hand the commitment it required.

Since I'm the "someone" you're ranting about, I'll respond.

As to the cost of the education players are receiving, I said:

"they are receiving an education that would cost as much as $200,000 to $300,000."

You can, indeed.....with tuition, books, housing, and fees.....get a degree at UT for about $90,000 if you are a Texas resident (and you don't have a single other expense). If you were an out-of-state student, the cost would be approximately $180,000.

Boston College $230,000
Baylor $176,704
Stanford $225,784
SMU $224,356
Vanderbilt $229,224
Southern Cal $233,612

These estimates were from collegecalc.org and include only tuition, books, fees, and housing on campus. None of the schools I cited are in the Top Ten most expensive universities. Only one, Boston College (#18), is in the Top 20 (from 2011-12; tuition costs are rising, on average, 4.7% per year). Therefore, I don't think it was unreasonable for me to say "as much as" $200,000-$300,000 per year.

It's often a little hard for me to follow some of your points, but as to student-athletes having jobs, I think that they are allowed to work as long as the gross amount earned isn't more than $2000, and the job they get is not for the publicity/benefit that would come to their employer because they are a college athlete. I think that there are fairly recent NCAA rules governing the specificity of this.

As to my statement about "wimping out," I should have explained more fully. It had nothing to do with playing football per se, but the attitude of self-imposed victimization....the idea that so-and-so is being mean to me, and it's not fair. As to that being contradictory with my hope that my 11- and 7-year-old grandsons don't play football, I stated clearly that I was concerned about injuries. Although the two oldest (don't know about the baby yet) are very athletic and love participating in sports (they're both really outstanding baseball players), they will most likely always be on the small side. I'm the grandmother. I'm allowed to be over-protective! If they choose to play football, I'll be at every game....cheering my head off (and praying). Lastly, and this may be a difficult concept for you, onetime.....I don't equate not playing football with being a wimp. As much as I love watching football and respect the hard work and talent that goes into it, I don't equate playing football with being a "man's man." Sorry. I'm sure that's a shocker for you.

As for my husband "indeed" playing football, (were you suggesting I lied for some unknown reason?), yes he did play in high school and was offered full scholarships by several schools, including UT and Baylor. He was a starter for his freshman year, and then gave up his scholarship partly because of injuries but also because it was not "fun" anymore and we were fortunate enough to have parents who could help us pay for our educations. Mostly, though, it was because he was focused on academics and knew he had to have top grades to get into his desired graduate school. I was happy when he gave up football. He and I both know and appreciate the commitment that college football requires, and we both have great respect for players and their hard work.

And I still don't like the idea of college players being paid. I firmly believe that it will cause more pressure on them than the current system. If you think they are pressured now, because they are under scholarship....just imagine the pressure of having a lucrative endorsement deal with Nike or whatever. They will be considered even more of a cash cow than they are now, and college will be even less about an education than it is now.

That's my opinion, and I'm stickin' to it.

[Ludwig]

I'm 100% with bb's position.

The only true "test of manliness" is how much he is willing to sacrifice for the sake of others.