Walk onto any major Division One college campus, and you’ll see it everywhere. T-shirts and jerseys for every sport the university has to offer. the University of Michigan has football jersey’s with the number 16 on them. Southern California students still walk around with jerseys with numbers once worn by Trojan greats Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. Last spring, you couldn’t go anywhere on the University of Connecticut campus without seeing #15 basketball jerseys, fans showcasing their love for former captain Kemba Walker. Even while these star athletes are still in school, their colleges are making money of off their student-athletes brand. These athletes don’t see a dime.
The ESPN documentary on Michigan’s early ‘90s basketball team the Fab Five showed how Jalen Rose and Chris Webber walked the campus and the town of Ann Arbor and saw their jerseys being sold for $70+ in store windows. Webber had to pay for food with spare change, Rose drove a beaten down car around campus. The university, however, was not strapped for cash. Those players brought in more currency to the athletic program than ever before.
The topic is talked about ad nauseum. Should college athletes be payed for their performance on the athletic field. Some say that they already are being payed (no, not like the lucky guys at The U); they arrive onto expensive college campuses on full rides, not spending a dime on their education. Other students at USC or Michigan spend tens of thousands of dollars per semester to go to college. Most athletes don’t drop a dime.
But what must it feel like to walk around your own campus and see your jersey being sold to students and parents, and the athletes not seeing a dime in return. We, the fans and students, have no idea what its like. But seeing Webber stare into a store window and talk about not being able to afford Taco Bell is a lingering image. It raises so many questions, and a debate that may never be settled. But, is it fair?
No, the short answer is that it probably is not fair for University’s to sell merchandise off the brand of their students. College reps argue that the athletes names are not on the back of the jerseys, so they are not selling a specific player, but just the team. However, would Duke University just up and sell (exclusively) number 4 jerseys at their local Co-Op, or is it because J.J. Reddick was one of the greatest Blue Devils to ever pass through the program.
I don’t contend that student athletes be given contracts upon joining an athletic program. The whole process is messy and sometimes immoral, not to mention its the most annoying thing about professional sports. Do we want to have a freshman point guard holding out for a contract before the college season starts? No. However, a simple resolution can be found. One idea is that student athletes be given a sort of allowance during the athletic season. Picture this: a college athlete comes onto campus, and is given a set amount of money for expenses (food, clothes, books, what have you). This takes away (hopefully) any messy controversy's with agents or boosters having illegal dealings with students. No more probations, no more lost scholarships or vacated seasons. College sports would be a better place without turning on the news and seeing stories about the University of Miami having to suspend players, or Terrelle Pryor being suspended IN THE NFL for his dealings at a tattoo parlor while at Ohio State.
People may not like the idea. They may say that college athletes are spoiled enough as is. But, when it all comes down to it, do we really want to read about more stories of vacated championships (how do you think the current USC players feel about Reggie Bush), or another “death sentence” like the one SMU received when they lost an entire season of football. Don’t give these 18/19-year-old kids millions of dollars while at school, but something simply must be done.
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