... is to stop kidding around and treat the players as pros. They aren't really taking classes if they're traveling 3-4 days a week and practicing/working out 5 hours/day. And they are generating a lot of money for top schools for the slim chance of winning a spot in the NFL.

So, take some of the money they earn for their schools and put it in a trust fund. Those players who make it to the pros get nothing. Those who don't get scholarship money from the fund to get a real college degree and set themselves up for viable career.

Some of the money should come out of the outrageous salaries paid to coaches, and the ridiculously expensive stadiums that mock the missions schools claim.

time job AND going to school full time too. Biggest question in my mind is how many of these young men really aren't college material in the first place. The assumption by many is that many of them won't earn a degree if they were left to their own abilities.

I think of college football players as people who know what field they are going to work professionally in, but they go to college to perfect and showcase their skills.

Some leave college early because they're prepared to enter the professional world of the NFL.

Think about a computer science wizard in college. Is anyone going to blink an eye if the computer science wizard isn't great in English or History? Probably not. They, like Bill Gates, know what they want to do and no one should be surprised when they jump ship to begin their professional careers early. Even if it means they didn't excell at other subjects or graduate.

Don't get me wrong. I have the utmost respect for education and the value of education. But I also realize (particularly after attending law school) that a significant part of education is preparing for the professional working world.

College football players are no different in this regard.

Colleges are paying millions of dollars per player to produce NFL recruits and they get nothing in return for it, at least not from the richest beneficiary. Many of the schools are funded by taxpayer dollars, so your tax dollars and mine are being spent on what has become an NFL farm team system.

Alumni giving goes up after a successful season in either basketball or football. The real tragedy are the young men who go to a second tier school, lack the raw talent to make it in the pro's, and fail to get an education. And I agree, your tax dollars at work.

Wow. I never thought about it that way. That makes total sense! And no, I'm not being sarcastic.

Most college athletes don't have a shot in hell of making it to the pros. They aren't preparing for their careers. I had a friend who was a T.A. at a Division I school. He caught two student athletes turning in the same paper and both calling it their own. The athletes were told 'don't get caught cheating again' and didn't even get suspended for a game. (The official school policy in the student handbook was that they should have been expelled from the college.) The athletes also got vehicles from boosters. One student athlete drove around in a Hummer. He had a disabled student tag despite being on his teams active roster. He'd park across two spaces and not get a ticket. And the school in question had only been Division I for a couple of years. At the same time the school went Div I the gym facilities became off limits for regular students and phys. ed. was dropped from the curriculum. This is the flagship university for one of the best state university systems in the country.

Colleges should have nothing to do with what is essential minor legue sports.

Nacoran:

Most college athletes don't have a shot in hell of making it to the pros. They aren't preparing for their careers. I had a friend who was a T.A. at a Division I school. He caught two student athletes turning in the same paper and both calling it their own. The athletes were told 'don't get caught cheating again' and didn't even get suspended for a game. (The official school policy in the student handbook was that they should have been expelled from the college.) The athletes also got vehicles from boosters. One student athlete drove around in a Hummer. He had a disabled student tag despite being on his teams active roster. He'd park across two spaces and not get a ticket. And the school in question had only been Division I for a couple of years. At the same time the school went Div I the gym facilities became off limits for regular students and phys. ed. was dropped from the curriculum. This is the flagship university for one of the best state university systems in the country.

Colleges should have nothing to do with what is essential minor legue sports.

I think you have a bias against considering professional sports a profession.

The preparation for their careers is physical moreso than academic, although they do need to learn whatever coaching system their particular team utilizes.

I don't see any major difference in professional athletes and other students who are in college as a formality before they begin their careers. For most of us college was a place to go to figure out what career you're interested in. But for a few people, there is no doubt in their minds about what career they will participate in.

If you are a musical prodigy or an artist or you are in some type of profession that doesn't really require licensure, perhaps a computer progammer, college may simply be a formailty. I think the same holds true for many football, basketball, and baseball players.

And yes, many of the kids who go to college as a formailty aren't particularly well rounded or bright in areas outside their field.

Do I think this is a good idea for most students? No. Most college atheletes or prodigies in other fields will not go on to excel in their partular field, so it's probably a good idea for them to get a well rounded education so they have more options.

But does anybody think that Bill Gates really needed that degree from MIT to succeed?

So you are saying 'the exception to the rule, is the rule'. Did you actually make it through Law school?

maartenlaws:

So you are saying 'the exception to the rule, is the rule'. Did you actually make it through Law school?

No, I'm saying the rule for students that are sure about which profession they will enter after college should be applied to athletes as well as non-athletes.

Or in your simplistic language, "The rule is the rule, regradless of whether you're an athlete or not."

maartenlaws:

So you are saying 'the exception to the rule, is the rule'. Did you actually make it through Law school?

And yes, I actually made it through law school and did well there and do well now. Thanks.

Bringing in Bill Gates to 'prove' how to succeed without finishing college is saying the exception to the exception is the rule.

A very small percentage of college athletes become professionals (around 5%). So the whole argument that college athletes are in college for advanced training towards their future professional careers is laughable, highly illogical, and an non sequitur.

For several years while I was in grad school I was a TA in the History Department at a public ACC university. In that time I had many atheletes in my classes and, not surprisingly they represented a wide range of skills. Some were good students, some below average students who knew they would have to try hard and some were academic jokes. The same was true for their support services. The football program was absolutely on top of their athletes constantly checking progress and organizing study sessions. The basketball program was not quite as on top of the situation. Women's field hockey were almost laughably incompetent at following their athletes. In short it was all very complicated.

It seems to me the most valuable reforms that could be offered would to be create some system where athletes in money making programs would be paid at the prevailing rate of work study on the campus for the time they spent in practice and at games. This would take some of the pressure off the creations of fake jobs and gifts by boosters and would recognize that fact that at least in football and basketball these progams raise a large amount of money and visibility for a school and players do deserve some reward. We should also make scholarships more flexible to allow people to return to school to work towards a degree when their pro careers do not work out or they finish their eligibilty and still have a huge number of credits to go until graduation.

maartenlaws:

Bringing in Bill Gates to 'prove' how to succeed without finishing college is saying the exception to the exception is the rule. A very small percentage of college athletes become professionals (around 5%). So the whole argument that college athletes are in college for advanced training towards their future professional careers is laughable, highly illogical, and an non sequitur.

I think my analogy went over your head maartenlaws.

There are many people in college who are prodigious in a particular field and consequently they may focus exclusively on that field, sometimes even leaving college early to participate in that field.

The college athlete is no different in this regard than a computer science wiz who isn't very good at English or History or a young person who is familiar with the stock market through their family or personal interest.

Also your reasoning seems a bit incomplete. A small number of athletes go on to become professionals so you claim that the argument that they are in college for advanced training in their field is laughable and illogical? Not at all. The athletes are indeed in school to receive training in their field. What's laughable or illogical about that? And a non sequitor? Nope. It has everything to do with what we're talking about.

I think athletes and the Bill Gates' of the world should be encouraged to get a well rounded education. But the FACT of the matter is that there are many young people who are not athletes who aren't much different than the athletes in their attitude toward college.

You need to get laid or something. You're sniping for no reason.