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Posted on July 22, 2010

X's & O's: Battle Royale

By John Easterling
happysports_72
With Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina all under scrutiny and potential investigation from the NCAA for agent-player misconduct as well as the recent USC fiasco, the spotlight is thrown onto the relationship of agents, players, the NCAA, and the NFL.  With so many rules and so much access to the players (cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc.), there is increasing difficulty to walk the line of planning for the future while staying true to the “amateur” tradition of college football.  The money that is available to marquee college draft picks is so immense and attractive, and the subsequent money funneling to the agents, that is it seemingly become an impossibility to prevent early tampering and interference from the agents.    

So what’s the answer?

Some argue that players should be paid.  College football makes a grip of money.  We’re talking in the billions of dollars….billions, like 1,000 millions. That’s a crazy amount of money. Coaches are making millions per year. Bowl games, video games, jerseys, ticket sales, posters, you name it. All with players’ likenesses. All free of charge. This, of course, isn’t even bringing up gambling.  God might not even know how much money exchanges hands based on the performance of 18-22 year-olds. Rich white men making money and getting entertainment from young black men. College football players – the new Invisible Man. 

But paying them isn’t the answer. Perhaps we could alter the definition of ‘paying them’ and increase stipends, or allow them to collect royalties of money made from the use of their likeness. There is certainly not a clear answer, but outright paying players can’t be the answer. It’s still college football. I hope it’s still about kids coming to play football, a game that they love, maybe get an education – a bit ambitious – and experience college and campus life. The atmosphere, the passion, the tradition. You can’t get those in pro football because the players are paid.  

Is Nick Saban right? Should we monitor and police the agents? Should we attempt to persuade the NFL to discipline agents who are caught colluding and interfering with college players? Perhaps. It seems like a decent idea. If we can eliminate, or at least reduce, the temptation at its source, then it stands to reason that players wouldn’t fall into the trap. But realistically, we’d probably just create an atmosphere where agents would come up with new and cleverer ways of tampering. There’s just too much money at stake.  

Also, I think that Saban (which is seems like a good strategy) is diverting the focus from himself and his team, as well as the responsibility of the colleges as a whole. While I agree with Saban that coaches can’t be everywhere, and they do a great job of monitoring their players to an extent, to assert (lookin’ at you Pete Carroll) that the head coach of a top-flight school doesn’t know where his players are and/or getting brand-new houses seems ludicrous. And if it is true, then that’s just unacceptable. You will be scrutinized harder than anyone. You must be aware of this. If I’m being optimistic to think that players still want to play college football for the experience, you are being optimistic to believe that your players are going to be on their best behavior. Keep tabs.  Make your players check-in. I don’t care.  Do whatever it takes.

So maybe it’s both. Maybe we police the agents. Maybe we do a better job of policing ourselves. Maybe we just do a more thorough job of screening to whom we give our scholarships.  

It is my dearest hope that college football will never lose the atmosphere and aura that makes it so special. Passionate fans cheering for the school.  The cheerleaders.  The frat boys.  The fight songs.  I love it all.  That's what makes college football special.  Players are only there for four years max.  It is the other stuff that makes college football so unique and special. Oh, who am I kidding? Just pay ‘em.           

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