The argument to pay college athletes isn't new. For quite some time, college athletics like football and basketball have been driven by money. Money from bowls and money from television contracts. In order to stay competitive, reel in top recruits, and keep the big donors happy, colleges are forced to squeeze every dime out of their athletic programs. And yeah, if you want to keep your innovative up and coming coach, you're going to need a lot of money. For the majority of schools at the D-1 level, that leaves no money for paying their athletes above and beyond the monthly stipend and tuition they already provide. If that was even allowable. But somehow, Matt Grothe thinks he should get a slice of the money paid for one of his jerseys.
"I definitely think so," Grothe said. "All the great college players that have had thousands of their jerseys sold. The schools are making a ton of profits off it; even the places that sell them are making money. I don't understand why players shouldn't get a small percentage."I say somehow, because Grothe plays at a school that didn't even have a football program 12 years ago. Through a lot of hard work and sacrifice by Jim Leavitt and everyone involved with that program, they've gone from practicing by the headlights of the coaches cars to a top 25 program in that short time. Grothe and his teammates are the beneficiaries of all that hard work.
That's not to say that Grothe doesn't appreciate all that hard work, or that his statement doesn't hold some validity. Because he's right. It's what he and those like him do every week that put butts in seats and sell jerseys. Especially at a program like South Florida that had a hard time selling tickets until the Bulls started winning games. But his suggestion would open a Pandora's Box that I think would ruin college football. What's to stop Grothe or some other college star from arguing that he should get a larger percentage because people are buying his jersey? I can only imagine what that would do to the fabric of a team.
The fact is, this is an amateur sport. It may not be completely fair to the athletes, but it's not like they aren't compensated for their efforts. Most do get a free ride that will give them a chance to make good money after college. They get preferential treatment with personal tutors, separate dining areas, and generally the best their school has to offer. Something I know the rest of us would have loved a crack at while we were going to college.
