Is it fair that players must play 3 years unpaid in the NCAA before being eligible for the draft?

Question

Isn't it exploitation for the universities to make millions off of these kids who risk career ending injuries without seeing a single dollar?

Education is all well and good, but last time I checked a contract with the NFL is worth a lot more than a college degree. If I could play, why not get the money while I could and go to uni after retirement?

True enough Jim, but to say that the NFL wrote such a rule without consideration for the College football industry would be naive. For a football star leaving high school, there is no doubt that the NCAA is the next step to take if they want to go pro.

Answer 1

well no the way you put it, it makes it seem like a scam.
but in reality it is not. the ncaa pays a lot of money not directly to the players but for the players. for the ncaa to give you 3 years is an honor. being paid is just being greedy.

Answer 2

Its absolutely fair. Those players are getting something most people would kill for, a free education at a high quality University (well, unless they go to Ohio State). The NCAA is not a minor league to the NFL, its an educational facility. Collegiate athletes should not be paid in addition to the free tuition, and free room and board they already get. Depending on what University they go to, and how long they stay, they are getting anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000 worth of value from their school.

Your argument completely misses the point though. You are assigning blame to Universities for the NFL's rules regarding its draft. The NCAA and NFL have nothing to do with each other. You want to complain about NFL draft eligibility, blame the NFL, not the NCAA. Your argument is also inaccurate as to the NFL's criteria. You do not have to spend 3 years in an NCAA football program to be eligible for the draft, you have to have been out of high school for 3 years. If a talented High School player doesn't go to college for a year or two because of some reason, like a mission trip or something (happens to BYU athletes a lot), they do not then still have to play for 3 years in the NCAA. In fact, there have been some players in the NFL that never went to college. Neither Marcus Pollard or Antonio Gates ever played NCAA football, and neither did Christian Okoye. Basically, your entire question is flawed.

Answer 3

Unpaid? So what is a 4 year scholarship worth from say USC? Probably $150,000 +, not to mention the good job a degree like that would bring you after football since there are no guarantees that any of them will make the NFL. Granted the universities make much more than that from the football programs, especially if they are a Top 10 school year most years, but without the national exposure a player gets from playing at USC, for example, they may not even get noticed. Personally I think it is a great rule the NFL has about a player must be 3 years removed from high school before being eligible for the NFL draft. I think all major sports should follow the NFL example.

Answer 4

First it is 3 years AFTER H.S. Graduation. They could go to Arena League if they REALLY wanted. Not NEARLY as much in it but actually we have an independent Arena League around here. The one team is mostly College Football players. Not sure it is former or current but either way that does give some advantage. Based on WHEN the season is that works for both locally. After all after College Football is over they can hop into the Arena League and make like $250 a week AND keep in shape while the college PAYS for their education. Man that would be a sweet deal. Besides if they TRULY take advantage of the deal they get then even with a Career ending injury they could make MILLIONS off the college. They got a FREE Education, got to play football, and sure they could have made more in the Pros but you can make good money with a good College Education. Last if it isn't Fair the NBA wouldn't have changed their rules in the last CBA.

Answer 5

Your question isn't quite accurate. It seems to imply that the NCAA is the organization that has imposed the rules for the draft, when in actuality it's the NFL that has imposed the rule. The rule that the NFL has put in place is that a player is not eligible until 3 or more years after his high school graduation. There's no requirement that the player plays at all in the NCAA, and there are cases where they don't (think Antonio Gates who played basketball in college).

Now, is it fair for the NFL to impose a rule like this that generally limits players to be at least 20 years old prior to being drafted? That's a totally different debate.

Answer 6

Hahahahhahahahhahhahahahhahahha! Wow, not poking fun at you or anything but your probaly not in college are ya? Well for the average college student that is not an athlete college is pretty darn expensive over a four year period. Especially at schools like Vanderbilt, USC, Notre Dame, and other private institutions. Vanderbilt and USC are both about a quarter of a million dollars when you add up tuition, books, supplies, living expenses, etc. Some student athletes play at universities that don't have scholarship ball or only partial scholarship ball and have to pay to play there in away, so I am not really sympathetic for the college athlete that has his or her tuition covered just like I wouldn't have sympathy for the super rich kid at school whose parents paid for everything.

However, where I do feel there is an issue is that Nike, Adidas, Reebook, Underamour, Russell, and others make a profit off of these players by way of selling their jerseys. It's no secret to anyone of us why somebody would buy a number five USC jersey as opposed to a number nintey nine. The BCS is big money too with TV contracts Dr. Pepper, Toritos, Alltell, At&t, etc racking up the cash. In that regards I think they are getting exploited but that cool 65 million signing bonus is pretty close when you have a popular jersey and playing in a BCS championship, something the average college student is highly unlikely to get upon graduating from college. Unless of course they win the lottery but they have better chance of dying in a plane crash than that.

Answer 7

First, consider the financial investment the school is putting into the athlete. Free ride scholarship for a 1A school is nearly six-figures. The school has to pay for the schools to travel, accomodations, advertising, equipment, etc, etc. The fact that they're getting a free (or nearly free) education is a life-time gratuity whether they get injured or not...that's a risk they knowingly take everytime they strap up.

Would you put a 19 year 2A freshman up against the likes of Michael Strahan or Junior Seau? I would hope not! They need the higher level of instruction, coaching and physical preparation before they run with the big dogs. Look at the NCAA as a whole. Sure, the blue chippers MIGHT be able to hang, but that sets those that THINK they're ready but actually can't up for disaster. For a team to invest millions on a player that isn't ready for the next step is irresponsible to the team as a business.

Answer 8

I am going to assume you are talking about Division I football players, who are just a fraction of the football players in this country. And only a fraction of them will be able to go pro.
The majority of them are not good enough to go into the NFL.
So your logic about an NFL contract being worth alot more than 3 or 4 years of college tuition would be true if all the players were going to go pro, but that is incorrect.
The majority of the players are going to have the advantage of getting a free degree that they will be able to use to start careers out in the working world. A degree that has a very high dollar value given to them for playing a game that they love.
You and I would have to pay for that degree, tens upon tens of thousands of dollars.
On the other hand, if you would pay college players to play, what is the pay scale?
Is there a different rate for starting as opposed to sitting the bench?
Does a senior get more than a freshman, even if the freshman starts?
How much do you pay the basketball players?
The lacrosse team?
Volleyball team?
Bowling team?
Gymnastics team?
Golf team?
You surely don't mean that ONLY the football players get paid, do you?
I don't care how much you see them on TV, they are still armature players.
You go to college to get an education, very few EVER will move on to professional sports.

Answer 9

what sport are you talking about? in football you have be out of high school for 3 years before you can go to the nfl, i doubt if any high school players would be ready for the nfl at 18 years old, in college basketball you need to play 1 year and once a again there are many college super stars that will never see the nba, in baseball you can get drafted right out of high school and work your way through the minor leagues, remember less then .05% of all college athletes ever go on to make even a penny in pro sports.

Answer 10

A contract with the NFL IS worth a lot of money, but the money isn't guaranteed. If they get hurt their rookie season in the NFL they have no money, no job and no higher education to fall back on. While they're in college they get free tuition, room and board, access to some of the best training and equipment available in the US and are treated like Rock Stars on campus - that's how college players get paid and thats a whole hell of lot more than I got when I was in college.

Answer 11

First and foremost only 4% of anyone who even finds the field at a college makes it to the NFL. Even if they do make it to the NFL for most players the average NFL career is only 3 years. For all the Superstars like your Peyton Mannings, Hines Wards, and Chad Johnsons there's countless guys who couldn't even get past practice squad.

Second most of these kids get scholarships and are supposed to be there getting an education FOR FREE and will never have to pay a dime to those student loan scheisters. Hardly exploitation in my book.