Trey Patterson
Opinion Editorial
Ms. Niccolodi
English II
Should colleges get paid? Is this considered to be a form of the American Dream?
Imagine this- one star athlete that plays for a prestigious Division one men’s basketball or
football program and another kid that goes to a low/mid level Division one program. Now say,
the family of the high major kid is struggling financially and he has the opportunity to support
them. But, he can’t because the NCAA doesn’t allow because it will diminish their amateurism.
Are these athletes actually amateurs though? Is the NCAA just holding them back?
Is the general public demanding too much from these collegiate athletes these days? According
to Forbes.com, in 2017 Stanford running back, Bryce Love made the decision to skip PAC-12
Media Day in order to go to class so he can graduate. What a bizarre idea right? The star
running back got extremely criticized from media personnel because he made his education a
priority. Everyone always emphasizes to athletes that education comes first. But, when an
athlete makes a decision regarding their future or education you’re spiteful because it might
conflict with your personal agenda? Being that Love attended the prestigious Stanford
University you would think he would be applauded for his decision to upkeep the intellectual
culture of the university right? No,he was shamed for it. Stanford graduate, Damon Jones said
in a tweet regarding the situation, “You demand professionalism, pay professional salaries.” We
want college athletes to act professional but still say they’re amateurs? That concept is
perplexing to me.
The discussion of college athletes being paid has been going on for a good amount of time now.
But, one of the main topics of the discussion involves race, as many other issues and conflicts
in our country involves. According to the data acquired from Huffington Post, 52% of the black
respondents believe that college athletes should be paid, while only 15% oppose the idea.
However, 27% of the white respondents agree with the idea while 43% oppose it. Now I believe,
the disparity in results is so drastic because majority of the athletes that compete for these high
major, high revenue earning teams are African Americans. What if it was the opposite, how
would the data compare if majority of the Caucasian population were the big time athletes?
In the article, it states that if players if were paid they might stay in school in longer because
they wouldn’t have to worry about leaving school early trying to go professional and provide for
their family back home. They could focus more on receiving their education, also they would
have the means...
