Money, College Athletics
Is it against the law for the winner of the Heissman Trophy to sell it. I never could figure out why Reggie Bush even had the trophy to give back. He had to know what was coming. Newton, if allowed, would be wise to do the same thing. If there was not talk of financial gain for his attending any particular school, whether the player knew it or not, someone or some family member was slipping. For someone like the talent of a Newton, of course money was one of the impetuses for his going to Auburn, after he had to leave with his tail between his legs from Gator country and was, from all indications, totally committed to some other college. Somethng changed. I doubt it was is heart.
College sports is a joke, especially at the bigtime NCAA Div. I football and basketball levels. I recall Peyton Manning, when at the Univ. of Tenn. held the coaches and fans alike hostage by his supposed indecision as to whether to remain or not for his senior year, or go pro. Of the people I knew, there was little doubt he would stay at UT rather than go pro. He waited till the last minute to announce it for the height of the anticipation factor. It was nothing more than that. The reason he had no qualms about remaining in college for that last year had to do IMO with family income. His family had the money to purchase insurance on him in the event he became injured his senior season in college. Also, he had plenty of walking around money on campus. The urgency was not there to grab the instant millions that the NFL would have brought his way. With the bucks a school like UTenn brings in because of Saturday afternoon football, and doing it squarely on the backs of those who compete, there is no excuse in my opinion for not giving the players a stipend in addition to their scholarship. The Manning families of the world do not need such funding, but the poor need it. They spend the money getting these kids recruited and tutored but when a kid looks up in the stands and sees half the kids with his name on their back he cannot make a cent off of selling an autographed shirt. I am sure others will disagree but I think it is a disgrace these kids who go to class and, basically, have two fulltime jobs cannot get one cent for it without getting themselves and the school in trouble. Who knows some of these kids may have never gotten in trouble for selling a little bit of weed had the school put a few bucks a month in an account of theirs. If coaches can make literally millions of dollars over the course of, say, four years, surely the guys on the field that actually make or break the coaches career could get a little spending money put in their pocket.