Athletes should be paid to play

Nathan Chaisson
The Collegiate Times

BLACKSBURG, Va. (U-WIRE) - In the wake of Michael Vick leaving Virginia Tech for the pros, the question resurfaces: Should athletes leave college early, or should they stick around and complete their education?

A decision not to leave college early if he has a realistic chance of making the cut seems ludicrous. Most people go to college to get an enjoyable well-paying job. What reason would an athlete have to stay in college if he were offered even a backup position in a pro-sport where the minimum salary is $200,000? For most regular college graduates, a starting salary offer of one quarter of that would be considered very lucrative.

Many people raise the point that an injury can easily end athletes' careers, and without an education they would be left with nothing.

Although it is true injuries are very real, these injuries can happen in college as well, where the athlete is left with no possibility of being paid and could even lose a scholarship.

Take the University of Virginia's marquee safety Anthony Poindexter. He was an Associated Press first-team All-American and could have been a first or second-round draft pick.

A first-round draft pick can make as much as $10 million when he signs a contract.

Unfortunately for Poindexter, he tore his knee in the seventh game of his senior season, ending his college career. As a result, he fell from a shoo-in early-round pick to the last pick for the Baltimore Ravens and 216th overall.

College athletes who leave for the pros can always return to college if a career in sports does not work out. Athletes such as Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys and Shaquille O'Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers have gone back to college to complete their degrees. Retired running back Robert Smith of the Minnesota Vikings plans to return to school to complete his education as well.

Of course, these athletes were all successful in their fields, but even a sub-par athlete could afford to send himself to any college of his choosing after only a single season in the pros.

There is definitely a disparity between student athletes and students who participate in other extracurricular activities. For example, take a student musician.

A student who wishes to excel at music can receive a music scholarship to a school that has a good music program.

The student can play for the school's symphony regardless of grades or academic eligibility and can actually play in a professional symphony simultaneously and be paid for the musical performances.

In addition, one can actually major in music and even more specifically, in an instrument such as piano.

It seems unfair then that a football player who wishes to play for his school must meet academic standards and cannot be paid for the services he renders to his school. This is the case even though a school probably rakes in much more money from football revenue than from a concert. A football or basketball major is unheard of, much less a major in playing quarterback or strong forward.

Athletes are scrutinized for getting any type of job while on scholarship for their school. Getting paid to play or work in football would be sacrilege.

Some say only a small percentage of top college football players actually make it to the pros. An athlete who spends his life dedicated to football only to fall short of the pros would be wasting his time, right? Wrong. There are more jobs related to football than just players. John Gruden played for Dayton but did not play in the pros. Yet, he is a successful, young head coach for the Oakland Raiders, coached the team to the American Football Conference title game and earned himself AFC coach of the year honors.

There are many positions as head coach, assistant coach, scout and officials available in all sports. Players are not the only ones who get paid to participate. Wouldn't a person who majored in football be more qualified to coach or recognize young talent as a recruiter than someone who majored in sociology or engineering?

It is time the National Collegiate Athletic Association notices our student athletes deserve to be recognized as pursuing a legitimate career, one which typically pays much better than any other undergraduate degree can hope to offer.

Rather than criticizing athletes for leaving early to make money, we should allow them to spend their time here at the collegiate level preparing for their careers just like an engineer would prepare for a career.