Taking Advantage of the Athlete$

In the most recent issue of Time Magazine, Texas A&M football star Johnny Manziel appeared on the cover, which you can view here.  But, if he wants to sell autographed copies of the cover to his biggest fans, the NCAA will not allow it.  Why?

Manziel makes "money-making" hand gesture during A&M's season opener

This debate has gone on for decades, and was brought to national attention when University of Michigan's "Fab Five" made it to the Final Four in 1991.  During the season, stores across Michigan and the country were selling t-shirts with the players' names and faces on it, yet the players were not receiving a dime.  This theme has continued to grow and spin out of control as colleges nationwide makes millions of dollars off the work of their students, and the only money these students can receive is scholarship money.

This summer, the NCAA investigated allegations that Manziel was paid to sign autographs on multiple occasions, which is a clear violation of the NCAA's rules.  After a long investigation, the NCAA did not find a lot of evidence, therefore Manziel was only suspended for the first half of their first game against Rice.  But the pressing question is why Johnny Manziel and college athletes across nation aren't allowed to make money off of their own celebrity status.  Most of the athletes in college will never play professionally, so this is probably the most valuable they will ever be in their lives.  For instance, Manziel won the Heisman Trophy last season as college football's best player, yet  he still does not project to be a successful NFL quarterback.  He may spend four or five years in the league, and then could become employed.  So imagine how athletes with no possibility of any professional sports career feel when they are putting in over 50 hours a week for their team, but their success only results in millions for the universities, and nothing for themselves.

I believe that college athletes should be able to make money off of their own "celebrity", but should not be paid by colleges to play for their school.  For example, athletes should be able to receive money for autographs, endorsements, television appearances, apparel sales, and such.  This makes perfect sense because the money is not coming from the universities, and the players are making money off of their names, not the universities' names.  Obviously, I do not think that players should be paid for playing from colleges because then it would become a bidding war for the best high school players, and the whole college sports scene would be tarnished.

So I say let Manziel and the others capitalize on a time in their lives where they will never be more valuable, and the NCAA should do this sooner rather than later.

What do you think about college athletes being paid?  Do you think the universities should be able to pay them?  Should they be able to make money off of their celebrity?  Or do you think the rules should remain the same, and athletes should receive no money?