Athletes have always dealt with challenges in their sport including losses to injuries. If you have ever thought about it, what kind of compensation those athletes receive for that much stress on their body? For almost every sporting event I have been to, there be all sorts of different injures, from mild to severe. Athletes need to start seeing compensation for the stress and rigorous work they are putting in. These athletes need a payment plan for any serious injury that occurs playing their individual sport. My argument is not based around paying the athletes on a professional level but compensate them on things that are out of their control.
I am an athlete and a huge sports fan. I have attended most if not all kinds of sporting events and love to be around the atmosphere. When watching sports one always seems to think of the worst, you always fear that someone is going to get hurt due to the aggressiveness of a specific sport. Unfortunately, it is an honest truth that most athletes go through some kind of injury whether that is a mild muscle tear or a severe career ending injury. As an athlete, you are never ready for that to occur, you are always ready to go out and perform for your school and your team.
What happens to an athlete that has a career ending injury? Most people don’t know this but the school has the ability to take that player off scholarship if the coach doesn’t deem that player acceptable to keep paying for his schooling since he can’t compete. That information is in the fine print of a contract when you sign to play. This is not something that regularly happens, but I feel that needs to be changed. For this reason their needs to be rules set in place that specify the nature of what the compensation benefits are. An athlete is recruited to represent his or her school and perform to the best of their abilities. It is the athlete’s choice to partake in athletic events in college but injuries are not in their control. The NCAA and universities need to come together and set rules in place for long term injuries for athletes that are sustained in their specific sport.
The college programs and schools have to take in account the risks that these student athletes are taking and have to come to the realization that most if not all are putting enough stress and strain on their bodies that be their mid fifties they will have medical bills through the wall. Schools need to help provide the athletes with long-term injury effects because of the contribution they made to that school. The NCAA needs to come up with an insurance program to create a way for athletes that have medical problems in the future. The NCAA could also change restrictions and rules to allow the athletes to use their name to earn money. There is an article that said that athletes should be allowed to use their name to make money just like musicians and actors on scholarships for their schools (Ken Reed).
This kind of program is not specifically paying the athletes per say but is a source that the athletes can use to their advantage. Most people would not agree in handing out money to a college student and telling them to use it wisely. I have come to an agreement with my self and thoughts that this is the most viable option in campaigning for athletic compensation. The NCAA plus university income is a billion dollar industry that is not distributing is money back into its source of income, its athletes.
Many people don’t understand that many of the athletes perform just as well or better in the classroom than regular students. After college, these athletes are able to obtain good jobs and can live great lives. What about those athletes who have injuries or have obtained a permanent disability directly from a sport that they played in college? As I said before college injuries can affect an athlete’s future more than anyone could see in the present. It is critical that the NCAA takes this into account and develops a plan that can insure an athlete will obtain the proper care and development after an injury and any compensation that that athlete may deserve from a life altering injury. Thoughts like these always have an opposition. The article the Kenneth Cooper wrote, some one in the Bryan Cave firm believed that athletes go to college for an education and just happen to play a sport (Kenneth Cooper). That thought process goes against my belief of injury compensation and would be against giving out compensation to athletic injuries. That argument would suggest that that particular person would not believe in helping out the athlete due to injury because it just “so happens” that student plays a sport. The example I gave is just one in a handful of arguments for compensating athletes.
Student athletes do not have time to work a minimum wage job and earn money for themselves. I believe that athletes provide enough money for their school that they should get compensated at the end of their tenure there. The schools have declined paying their athletes saying that they are unable to afford the stipend of two thousand dollars per football player (Joe Nocera). This is significant because the NCAA has passed a waiver in agreement to pay athletes. The future for athletes to receive proper compensation is near.
It is important to keep fighting for the athlete’s rights and keep educating people on what athletes deal with on the long run. Most people only see one side to an athlete’s life and think they are done after their sports careers are over. About three to five percent of all athletes go play at the professional level. An even smaller percentage than that can make enough money to last their lifetime. It is important we compensate athletes with injuries and supply athletes an incentive for playing sports and graduating.
Works Cited
COOPER, KENNETH J. “Should College Athletes Be Paid to Play?. “Diverse: Issues in Higher Education 28.10(2011): 12-13. Education Research Complete. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
The author of this publication is Kenneth J. Cooper. He is writing about how student athletes should not be known as employees of the school. His information is coming from credible sources such as ex players and coaches about the position of athletes versus employees. The text supports the idea that college athletes are not employees of the school and should not be paid. The opinion is very strong when a partner from the Bryant Cave firm said, “athletes went to get an education and that it just so happens to be they play a sport as well.” The purpose of this article was not to use it to back my argument up but to use a source that is a different stance to give some argumentative examples in my paper.
Reed, Ken. “Solution Regarding Paying College Athletes or Not is Simple.” The Huffington Post. Huffpost Sports, 13 Nov. 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
The author of this publication is Ken Reed. Reed published this article fighting for athletes to earn the right to make money. He comes from a well-known news paper which insures that he can be credible. I have to remember that this is his opinion and have to take into consideration some of the things are heavily biased. I picked this article because it agrees with my point that athletes should have the right to earn money. This article doesn’t cover the exact solution to what I thought of but it agrees with the fact that athletes. You can tell Ken’s position by backing up Fournette’s family saying that he should be able to use his name in making money because the university of Louisiana State uses it. This article helps prove my point that athletes should be allowed to use their name and create a way for themselves to earn money. Reed used examples of actors and musicians that are on scholarship just like a football athlete yet they can go perform gigs on the weekend to put money in their pocket. His example clarifies that the NCAA is selfish in the fact it thinks that this will take money away from their organization.
Nocera, Joe. “Let’s Start Paying College Athletes.” New York Times. New York Times Magazine, 30 Dec. 2011. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
The author of this article is Joe Nocera. This source is very credible due to Joe being part of one of the most well known news paper groups in the country. The information and people that are used in the article are credible based off their job description. Joe interviewed Mark Emmert who used to be the President of Washington University and is currently sitting as the President of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Mr. Emmert passed a waiver saying that college athletes could in fact receive a stipend of two-thousand dollars from their universities for football. The colleges soon turned this down saying that they could not afford to pay their athletes. I used this article to show that the NCAA is moving in the right direction to pay their athletes. There are still some problems with greed and the distribution of an eight billion dollar industry.