There’s a never-ending debate about whether football players should be compensated. Yesterday, well-respected South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier spoke out in favor of paying players and said he had the backing of 28 other SEC football and men’s basketball coaches.
Spurrier suggested that football players be compensated $300 per game, with a little less going to men’s basketball players. He also indicated that each coach said they were in favor of the proposal and more than willing to come up with the estimated $280,000 it would cost.
H/T Yahoo Sports
”This is tiny compared to the money that’s coming in now,” he said. ”I think we all know that.
”I’m going to keep fighting for our guys. If President Obama would say, ‘Spurrier, you and those coaches need to quit fighting for your players, that they get enough, they get enough full scholarship,’ then I’ll shut up about it.”
He said that ”little bit” – $3,600 or so a year per player, he figures – would give players some pocket money and help their parents attend games.
There’s no secret that college football provides a tremendous amount of revenue for schools, athletic apparel companies, television networks, coaches, athletic directors, advertisers…The list can go on and on. The only people who do not directly profit from the hundreds of millions of dollars that college football generates annually are the ones with the most at risk…the players. $300 isn’t much, but it’s certainly better than nothing. Pay them!