The players, you see them with this sob story child hood with no money then dressed to the T in designer clothes while not working a job. The top head coaches make serious bank, I kinda think the players should get a cut since they are the schools cash cow.
The cost of a free education? And maybe a couple of a thousand buck gift cards at Gamestop, Subway and the drugstore.
I agree. Those players should be paid. I don't have a clue how much; I haven't thought about it that much I played football in college and the NCAA rules were insane on what you could or could not do. Don't get me wrong: the scholarship was fantastic, but that scholarship was for academics, not football. Getting paid for football would have been nice. Then again, I do see the other side of the coin: big schools will be able to pay more, thus attracting the best players. I guess there's a huge opportunity for outright bribery. But isn't it already this way?
Maybe set a cap of like 50 grand per player and schools can only pay so much....So when a player gets hurt who pays for all the surgeries and medical visits?
Two concussions, one separated shoulder, one broken collar bone, one blown ACL, one hyper-extended elbow, one strained ankle... I never paid a dime. The university took care of everything. All the medical stuff was handled by the university department of medicine. Those were all separate instances, by the way, over three and a half years. Oh, and I got some dirt in my eye once, and that really stung. But I'm with you... I like the salary cap idea.
Its just you see some of these guys really mess themselves up and not make the NFL and have absolutely no way of making a living. I always wondered who paid all the medical bills and such... I also think that athletes should have to do at least 2 years in college before being able to be drafted, and have a marketable degree.
I've been really lucky... no long term physical problems, although I sure can't run a 4-minute mile. Not that I ever could. As for those concussions.... uh, what was I talking about? Anyway, I'm 44 now and no serious mental issues. So far. We'll see. And I like to think I was smart because I did finish my degree,and even go on to get a master's. So football really paid for my education, and even though I had a tryout with the Houston Oilers (remember them?) and never made the NFL, I still came out okay. But if I had long-term mental or physical problems now... all those medical bills would be on me. For some guys, it's do-or-die and playing college football could really screw them up for life. I think the NCAA does quite a lot to get these kids to get a degree, but you can lead a horse to water, but....
The fact you got your masters proves you saw the big picture and took advantage of the schooling. I would say a lot of these free ride stars are qualified for anything over working fast food, heck even making it to the NFL means nothing since most go broke within 5 years not playing.
You hear about a lot of NFL players going broke, especially the high-profile first-round draft picks. But nowadays the rookies go to a symposium after they're drafted, and they really do receive some fantastic advice from owners, GMs, coaches, current and ex-players. A lot of the advice is financial, and what to expect from friends and family asking for money, and regarding gold-digging women, and how to manage your money. From what I understand, the advice is brutal and realistic. I am sort of amazed by how many NFL players don't go broke. They really are getting some great advice, I think. Unfortunately, there are so many high-profile guys (like Adam "Pacman" Jones, or Ryan Leaf) who get into the league and just seem hell-bent on fucking up their lives and their careers. To your point, though, there are a lot of extremely talented guys in college who don't make it into the NFL because the can't handle the mental/intelligence aspect of it. They're football smart, but maybe not real-life smart. Smart or dumb, the ones who succeed and have long financially-stable careers are the guys who listen to their trusted advisors.
Since you're in Green Bay, and I can only assume you are required by law to be a Packers fan, it's nice to see that you aren't holding a grudge against the team that knocked the Pack out of the playoffs.
I think at this point, any of the four teams could win it all. Patriots = been there, done that, and they know how to win. Not only do they have the highest-scoring offense, they have the highest average margin of victory: 14 points. Ravens = they've beaten the Patriots already this season, but I think they're the weakest team of the four. It will be really, really tough to win in Foxborough, but they could do it. 49ers = they are rolling with Kaepernick, who seems immune to pressure, and they have the best defense (statistically) of the four teams. Teams can't scheme for Kaepernick because there isn't enough tape on him, yet. Falcons = they've proven they can win games, and win late if they need to. They have the second-best defense of the four remaining teams, too. Add home field advantage.... All I know, this weekend's games should be great.
I have no interest in any of the remaining games since the Seahawks lost. I'm taking my concealed weapons class today instead of watching football.
