Should College Athletes Get Paid?

Middle School 51 Meredith Lunceford

English 1/27/2014 707

Should College Athletes Be Paid?

     The NCAA has a rule that college athletes aren't allowed to be paid, and this rule is being heavily debated by many people. They have been looking at the athletes' busy lives that include of many hours of practice. Their schedule is so full, between school and their practice, that they have no time to make money for themselves, wrote Aaron Cheslock. If a person can't make money for themselves, someone must give it to them. Aside from that, some players make billions of dollars for their schools, and don't get anything out of that. It's not fair to the students that young adults, some still in their teenage years, give everything of themselves to their sport, and then they don't get enough out of it.

     Micheal Wilbon implies throughout College Athletes Deserve to Get Paid that any student who makes money for their school deserves to get some of it. He writes that the NCAA makes $10.8 billion because of the players who don't see any green at all. That is almost $11 billion, too much money to be ignored. Aaron Cheslock says in Should College Athletes Be Paid? that a student athlete, Fluker, who had experienced homelessness and poverty stated that he,“just like every other player, didn't see a dime” and another athlete, Rojers, was said to never had been paid as well. That's just two students among many that don't get payed though they practically pay for their school to continue to run. CNN Money published a video that has multiple people say that everyone can make money but the players.Cheslock said that they made “45 million in profit that year.” That's only what one school made.

     There are many alternatives in how the players could get payed because in the video NCAA Holds Firm:No Pay for Play people say that not every school makes money. They could be given food after every practice, no matter what time it is, because they don't have cash. Sports are dangerous, so if an injury stops an athlete from playing anymore, they shouldn't have their scholarship revoked. They could also be given the promise that their kids and grandchildren, etc. could go to that college for free. The video made by CNN also said that they have a room with nice and comfortable furniture, which might be a good place to hang out in after practice. Maybe schools could make their players' rooms nicer and more comfortable, supplied with a small refrigerator filled with food. These are only a few of many ways that colleges could pay their athletes.

     There are also many people on the NCAA's side that believe that student athletes shouldn't be paid, and there is no disagreeing with some of their points. Jeffrey Dorfman believes that with their training, scholarship to the school, physical therapy, tutoring, and other things that they already “benefit greatly.” He also says that all of this stuff can add up to a total cost of 125,000 dollars. He writes “That sounds to me like they are getting paid.” Thinking about it that way, they are getting paid, but what if a student needs some shampoo or some more toilet paper and they don't have any cash to go to the store and buy it? If they want to go out for dinner once in a while, they can't afford it, and if they are at practice late and they don't make it back in time for dinner, they don't eat. As well as that, they miss some school when they're making time for their sport.

     The student that wrote this essay can only hope that this will make a difference in such a large debate. The issue will most likely continue for months, if not years, until a choice is made, and the rule is changed or kept. The stories will be changed, and people's opinions will be changed as well, but this essay will always stay the same, nothing changed in it's opinion. It states that college athletes deserve to get paid, and it stands strong.