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John Gonzalez
Mrs. Tyree
English III, Per. 4
28 February 2014
College Athletes Paid to Play?
College athletes receive full scholarships to go to big name schools. Some of these
athletes receiving free education feel they should be paid for their services. College athletes
should not receive payments from universities or any other sponsor group because they are given
scholarships to attend universities and should not require any further benefits.
The NCAA does not want its athletes accepting any kind of payment other than benefits
included in scholarships. Athletes are not to be paid never cross any kind of line of
professionalism Maintaining clear line of demarcation between college athletes and
professionals (Wieberg). Student athletes are not employees and should not be treated as so by
law or school says NCAA (Cooper). There is a debate whether athletes should be paid as
employees and not have the status as an amateur. Some say athletes should receive rights and
benefits such as employees do (Sack). Athletes are privileged and are given opportunity to a
degree and to play sports, their opportunity is incongruent of being an employee (Cooper).
Athletes are receiving full scholarships to attend universities to play a sport and receive a degree.
Athletes are students first (Sack). In most schools, athletes are required to put academics first and
have to pass in order to play. Athletes are allowed to compete as pros in one sport and maintain
eligibility in another; for example; Russel Wilson played minor league baseball for Colorado
Rockies and was the quarterback for NC State (Wieberg).
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Coaches have control of athletes as if they are the boss of an employee (Sack). Athletes
have a responsibility to keep up with practices. National Collegiate Players Association says
playing college sports full time job (Zissou). Athletes spend over 40 hours a week practicing
(Zissou). After all the work that is put into college sports, an athlete must also keep up with
academic work to pass. New York Times reports athletic scholarships are less than $11000 a year
(Zissou). Some athletes feel they should be paid for their services to the program they are in.
Athletes put fans in seats and deserve opportunity to receive education and stipend to cover cost
of education (Sack). It almost seems fair to pay athletes and help them financially throughout the
year.
Top players receive tuition, books, tutoring, housing, clothing, coaching, medical care,
travel expenses, and career counseling all worth over $250,000 (Zissou). Athletes receive a lot of
benefits and accommodations for their sacrifices. The majority of college athletes receive
scholarships covering room board, books, and tuition, also benefit from coaching staff, facilities
and education (Wieberg). Athletes can ask for individual aid. NCAA offers special assistance
fund for student athletes in financial need (Wieberg). If an athlete is in financial need, the NCAA
gives every opportunity for this person to file paperwork and receive financial aid to help cover
living expenses (Whiteside). Scholarships are more than enough payment for athletes; the NCAA
gathers more than $750 million over eleven year span to benefit its athletes (Whiteside). College
athletes not only receive many benefits included in the scholarship given to them, but also
financial aid when asked for properly.
Athletes arent paid but college sports are a huge business. NCAA receives over half
billion dollars in revenue a year, which does not include payouts from Bowl games that exceed
over $184 million (Whiteside). Auburn received around $9.1 million from the SEC when Cam
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Newton was a student (Belson). This is a lot of money received by just one school for one year.
With program popularity schools have increase in sales of merchandise receive 7% royalty
(Belson). This is unfair for small schools that do not attract big names such as Cam Newton to
their schools. With a popularity increase, schools are more likely to have larger revenue from
their merchandise. Like professional teams, ticket prices are based on popularity and success of
the team, when University Auburn won the National Championship, the average ticket went up
to $345 (Belson). Fans do not mind paying more for a ticket especially when the program is
doing well. Now there is more money to be made with an increase in ticket and merchandise
prices. With popular players, coaches attract new recruits and have an increase in applications
submitted (Belson). Not all students receive scholarships and will have to pay tuition to attend
the desired university. With the increase in enrollment, more merchandise is likely to be sold and
more games sold out for sport programs. A fourteen year $10.8 billion contract was made
between the NCAA and CBS and Turner Sports (Wieberg). Games are televised nationally and
promote universities during commercials. The NCAA also receives $125 million from ESPN for
Bowl Championships in December and January (Wieberg).
If athletes were to be paid, schools might have to drop smaller less profitable sports
(Zissou). Football and basketball are major sports for the majority of universities and would
make the most money. Smaller sports such as baseball or womens soccer would not be able to
create the same amount of revenue football or basketball. This would not be fair to those athletes
who receive scholarships to play less popular sports. This would mean these athletes would lose
their scholarship and would have to pay tuition to attend college. Football and basketball players
would be able to receive full scholarships to attend a university and would be paid to play paid.
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Colleges do not have money to pay students (Zissou). Programs do a lot of traveling
throughout the year and have to pay for hotel expenses. Paying athletes a salary would be a
stretch programs will not have enough money (Sack). The programs will first need to pay current
expenses from the season before it will be able to pay its players. NCAA president says athletes
should receive $2,000 a year (Tulsa World). It is financially impossible to pay athletes;
programs barely keep up with current expenses now (Wieberg). Very recently, a group of
Northwestern athletes filed to create a union for college athletes. These athletes would like to
have guaranteed scholarships that will not be able to be taken from them. They are also asking
for a trust fund in which an athlete may finish school or perhaps rewarded for finishing school
after their eligibility is expired (Farrey).
Should bigger sports such as football basketball be paid more than smaller sports like
soccer and baseball (Tulsa World)? An athlete could train his or her whole life in tennis and
would not be able to receive the same amount of salary as a football player would. Tennis is not
as popular or profitable for the university as football and will not be able to pay tennis players. If
paid, should athletes in small cities be paid less than large cities (Tulsa World)? It would not
be fair for an athlete who is recruited to a large city college, like USC, to be paid more than an
athlete who is recruited by Indiana.
There are many examples of athletes and even colleges participating in athletes accepting
payment. Athletes will not have eligibility if caught receiving any kind of benefits outside of
their scholarships. These colleges view their athletes have marketable value and will violate rules
to have them play for them. MacMurray College tennis team receives death penalty for giving
improper scholarships to players. Mac Murray set up scholarships for athletes which came to a
total of $162,000 to 10 athletes over 5 years (Looney). The death penalty is issued by the NCAA
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when a major rule is broken. The Death Penalty is a punishment the NCAA gives to the specific
sport that the violations occurred in and takes away all scholarships that could be given to
potential players. Some athletes view themselves as stars needed to be paid for their talents.
These athletes are recruited to attend universities and are ready for compensation more than just
a scholarship.
For individual players, violations of the rules are punished differently. Johnny Manziel of
Texas A&M is a current example of a college athlete being paid. He signed memorabilia in bulk
to specific people who sold these autographs for a sum of money. There were reports of Manziel
demanding payment from the people he signed for. In the end the violations were not proved and
Manziel only served half a game of suspension. Reggie Bush, another example, was stripped of
his Heisman trophy won in 2005. This is an example of the consequences of receiving payment
or any kind of benefits. Bush received Impermissible benefits in the form of cash, merchandise,
an automobile, housing, hotel lodging, and transportation (Zirin). Athletes are lured in by agents
to accept money, cars, women, and many more benefits ("NCAA only has itself). All of these
things may be punishable by NCAA sanctions, but it is only the athletes fault for their own greed
to accept these benefits. Athletes are putting themselves on a pedestal, where they feel it is only
right to be paid for their talents. The compensation for athletes is scholarships for a free
education, room and board, food, and access to school facilities.
College athletes are receiving scholarships to attend universities to play sport. College
athletes should not be paid because of the benefits university and programs offer them. College
athletes should realize the opportunity they are given instead of trying to cash in on benefits that
will make them ineligible ("NCAA only has itself). These athletes are in a unique position to
be able to play a sport for a university while also being able to get an education. The NCAA is a
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huge business that does bring in a lot of revenue yearly. College athletes are attending school for
a degree and to have a path to follow for the rest of their lives. Only a small percentage of
college athletes are able to take their talents on a professional level. Even these athletes who
choose to turn professional have the opportunity to receive their degree. It is the choice of the
athlete to use the full benefits of the scholarship that are given to them.

This is quite good. You have excellent information and you comment well on it.
Organization and grammar are likewise excellent. Great job!
Content: 40/40; organization: 29/30; grammar: 20/20; MLA: 10/10
Grade: 99

















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Works Cited
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Resources in Context. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
Cooper, Kenneth J. "Should college athletes be paid to play? Michigan State law professors Robert
and Amy McCormick say Division I college athletes qualify as 'employees' under federal labor
laws." Diverse Issues in Higher Education 23 June 2011: 12. Student Resources in Context.
Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
Farrey, Tom. Kain Colter Starts Union Movement. ESPN. 28 Jan. 2014. ESPN.com: OTL. Web. 30
Jan. 2014.
"Johnny Manziel should be suspended." UWIRE Text 29 Aug. 2013: 1. Academic OneFile. Web. 15
Jan. 2014.
Looney, Douglas S. Cash, check, or charge? The Sporting News 1 July 1996: 38+. Student
Resources in Context. Web. 15 Jan. 2014."NCAA only has itself to blame for corruption."
UWIRE Text 14 Sept. 2011: 1. Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.
Sack, Allen. "Should college athletes be paid?" Christian Science Monitor 7 Mar. 2008: 9. Student
Resources in Context. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
Suggs, Welch. "NCAA Imposes 'Death Penalty' on a Team for the First Time in 18 Years." The
Chronicle of Higher Education 51.37 (2005). Academic OneFile. Web. 9 Jan. 2014.
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"Tulsa World, Okla., John E. Hoover column." Tulsa World [Tulsa, OK] 28 July 2012. Student
Resources in Context. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
Whiteside, Kelly."College athletes want cut of action." USA Today 1 Sept. 2004: 03C. Student
Resources in Context. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
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Resources in Context. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
Zirin, Dave. USCs tarnished trophy. The Progressive Nov. 2010: 42. Academic Onefile. Web. 29
Jan. 2014.
Zissou, Rebecca. "Fair play: should college athletes get paid?" Junior Scholastic/Current Events 9
Dec. 2013: 15+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.