Piece by: Kyle Sramek
NFL players are compensated generously for their ability to play the sport. The better a player performs, the more money he can earn in terms of incentive bonuses in their current deal or on his next contract. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs has out played his rookie contract and as a result signed a massive extension with the team. Said deal is a 10 year contract worth up to nearly half a billion dollars. This is far and away the largest as well as most lucrative contract a player has signed in NFL history. He undoubtedly deserved it in winning an MVP in his second year and a Super Bowl the next. This is just one example of many signed in the league that turn people into millionaires overnight. This is most beneficial to those coming from homes that make extraordinarily little money who need it just to survive. This is what I hope to address in this article. Allowing amateur athletes to profit off their name would solve a lot of these issues for players.
The only major amateur league in this country that allows this is the NCAA. The association currently classifies these individuals as student athletes. The reason for this is to emphasize the need for young men and women to receive a quality education at next to no cost to them. Players can be offered scholarships when they performed well prior to college in any sport they choose to play. For a portion of players, this is a wonderful option. A scholarship would enable an athlete to get a free education if they either have no desire to play football professionally or are not talented enough to play it any longer.
This is what the NCAA likes to tout as its primary goal for the athletic programs across the country. Other players have the ability to go beyond playing the sport collegiately and make a living by turning it into a career. For some players, this is their dream scenario. Unfortunately, some are just looking to make the most money before their career comes to an end. The potential to makes hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars is more desirable to them. That kind of money could be enough to start a business or invest it some other way. The problem is that an exceedingly small portion of college football players make it to the NFL and even fewer make a final roster either. Roughly 80 percent of professional football players will go broke after retiring. The league can do a lot more to help prevent this from occurring at such a high rate.
The inauguration of other leagues such as the CLF, XFL, and soon to be revied USFL can offer alternative payments for players, but is not a long term solution. The NFL has recently made a statement of a desire of expanding the league to European nations as a means of increasing opportunities for players to play and increase the popularity of the sport across the globe. While these are great options for players to make money as professionals, it is like putting a Band-Aid on a severe wound instead of something such as stitches. What really needs to happen to prevent this is for athletes to be able to make money once they get to college off their performance or maybe create a new league below the NFL.
For individuals who have no desire to get a traditional education, school and education are something they do on the side such as a job. They did not go to the school to gain knowledge for a typical career. The goal of all universities in this country is to prepare them for that job of their choice. If this is correct and they are staying true to this mission, helping those students have the best opportunity to go down that path should be one of their focuses. Almost everyone believes these players should be able to be compensated for their performances. Society has recently become aware of the massive revenue the NCAA and most of its schools collect yet are still able to be classified as non-profit organization.
The 2019-2020 college football bowl season enabled the association to distribute a total of $475 million to be shared amongst the teams for those games. Many in favor of paying the players believe they should get a portion of that payment as it was their play that got them there. Which makes a little sense, but when you get into specifics of paying someone who never played a snap all season to someone who played every down of the game the same amount can be just as controversial as compensating them at all. Some say colleges should be able to pay players based on their value without a salary cap of sorts. But then the sport would turn into the MLB. Big market teams such as the Yankees have 5 times the payroll as those with less funds available. In college, a prominent program such as Alabama could absolutely offer more compensation to a player than a new program with little to no support.
None of the ideas put forth to date seem fair to all sides and therefore it must be more specific. One suggestion gaining traction is allowing players the ability to get paid for their name, image, and likeness (NIL). This seems to be a solid idea. This would allow players to collect compensation for their specific performance with things such as doing an endorsement for a product or for revitalizing the amazing college football game that has not been made since 2014. Of course, this would require regulations as there are certainly ways this can be exploited to pay an exuberant amount for little work. The state of California passed a piece of legislation that would enable athletes to do just that beginning at the start of 20223. Similar bills have been introduced in nearly half of all U.S. state legislatures aimed at doing the same.
The NCAA recognized this was happening and have proposed their own rule, but of course is more restrictive. Amateurism is something the NCAA value as it preserves the integrity of the sport and allows them to continue to be a non-o=profit organization. They are now lobbying this idea to the federal government in hopes they could pass a bill preventing specific states from being able to offer players more incentive to attend college there. The problem with this is that if the federal government passes a bill regarding this issue, state laws cannot be nullified meaning this would not affect those at all.
Another solution could be the creation of a new league that allows younger players to be compensated for playing the game rather than attending college. Basketball has something similar to this in the NBA’s G-league. Promising basketball players can participate in this league to develop their skills in preparation for the upcoming draft. This is an excellent alternative for young players which allows them to earn compensation and has absolutely affected college basketball. Some changes to this format would be needed if translated to football. For instance, the two sports are drastically different. Football incentives contact and is not meant be for all to play. That is why the NFL requires a minimum of three years past secondary education before they can be eligible for the draft. T
his is for players to become ready for a much faster and more intense game at the next level. Using the G-league template, allow players to sign three year contracts, allow them to earn compensation, and then be allowed to enter the draft. Of course, this would mean they could no longer play in college. Once an individual signs a contract that compensates them financially, they are no longer considered amateurs This is not such a big deal with basketball. If they are not be happy with their projected draft position, they can play overseas to further hone their skills. This is not the case for football players currently. If they age out of the league and are not pleased with their draft stock, they have no option to play overseas. They could elect to play in another league, but there are far less options compared to other sports.
Regardless of this possibility, it would enable young men to be compensated for their play rather than go to college, not graduate, and have nothing to show for it other than memories. While certainly not meaningless, those cannot be exchanged for other items such as food, water, or to pay bills that they will have after football. Rather they choose one of these two options or possibly both, it will absolutely reflect the changing views of the game.