OT: financial penalties for college athletes taking money from agents

Submitted by dnak438 on

Per ESPN's Joe Schad:

 

Players who lose their college eligibility for receiving improper benefits from agents could face financial penalties upon entering the NFL draft under a proposal being considered by a panel of college and pro football officials seeking solutions to the problem.

The NCAA noted the possibility of "potential post-NCAA financial penalties" in a news release Monday announcing the collaborative discussions between professional and college football leaders, player agents, state law enforcement officials and NCAA executives.

The possibility of suspensions during a player's NFL rookie year -- as long as 6 to 8 games -- is also being discussed, according to two sources involved in the collaborative discussions including representatives of the NFL, the NFLPA, the NCAA and the American Football Coaches Association.

Personally I think this is totally absurd, but I suppose the NCAA feels that it has to protect the amateur status of its players, even though many of the players and the fans see college football as (at least in part) training/an extended try-out for the NFL.

mgokev

October 25th, 2010 at 1:55 PM ^

Well, rules are rules.  I suppose that NCAA/NFL officials believe that if the rules are continuously broken as they are now, then harsher penalties need to be enforced as a deterrent until the rules can be followed.  I have no problem with penalties being so strict because the student-athletes understand that they cannot take money from agents, and should be able to understand that there are consequences for doing so.  In my opinion, whether college players should be financially rewarded is not the point in this case.  It looks like they plan on keeping the way the current system is set up, and the temptation is too strong for the players right now, so making the penalties severe may protect the sanctity of the "amateur student-athlete".

plaidflannel

October 25th, 2010 at 1:55 PM ^

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum as the OP. Usually, in cases where a player takes cash, every party but the player gets dinged for it (school on probation or worse; alumni/fans get shamed for it; agent has credentials taken away; athlete usually receives empathy because of "his situation"). I would love for the NFL to step in and offer the NCAA punishments that the schools and NCAA aren't able to institute themselves.

However, with a labor dispute looming and more important issues being contested (length of season, fines/suspensions on hits, rookie salary slotting system, etc.), I don't see the NFL making any changes for this CBA.

dnak438

October 25th, 2010 at 2:31 PM ^

It's also the case that the most prominent players -- the ones who have an NFL future -- are the ones being offered, and taking, money and making a mess of it for the vast majority of players who are playing by the rules.  My opposition is, I suppose, a general dissatisfaction with the iniquity of college athletics -- that is, there is lots of money going around, but relatively little of it goes to the players who make it possible.  It seems crazy to me that a head coach can make $3-5 million a year while the players don't see any money (I understand they get an athletic scholarship and that's something, but it's clearly less than the market can bear). But I don't really have a better solution to the problem, either, and punishing the players would make enforcing the NCAA rules more effective.