Spending Money for Tim Tebow? Give Me a Break.

Talk about the possibility of paying players participating in NCAA sports is starting to heat up. The argument of paying players is heating me up. A legal pay-for-play scheme will not work in college sports. The recent wrongdoings of USC, Alabama, even a little further back, the entire Southwest Conference, and the current allegations against Ohio State have not shown the NCAA to learn form its mistakes. If a system is ever set up to allowing players to receive “spending money,” there will be no way to control it. May the floodgates be opened and may the highest bidder get all the top recruits and national championships.

There is not enough money to go around. If the NCAA is going to pay players only participating in the money making sports, good luck. I am sure Title IX, the bill that makes sure women athletes and their programs are given the same opportunities as men, will have something to say about the salaries.  Football and Men’s basketball are the only money making sports and allow for the rest of the programs to exist, but imagine having to pay a backup volleyball player as much as the star quarterback, not happening. The proposed system is flawed.

I am sorry the 100% free education you receive when you sign a scholarship is not enough. Denver Broncos QB Tim Tebow was on the Daily Show with John Stewart and he was talking about the hardships he and his teammates had to go through while at the University of Florida.

“It would be nice to have a little extra money so we could buy scooters to get around campus. The kids in school now don’t even have enough money to go eat at Outback.”

Timmy, I am so sorry you are going to have to walk to class amongst the commoners as you are worshiped for being a national champion and Heisman Trophy winner. (You should have signed at UGA. All of their players are given free scooters to get around campus.)  I am sorry the $500 or $1000 handshakes are not enough to get you from week to week. You can’t go eat at Outback with your buddies? The money you do not have to spend on tuition, books, or anything else for school is not enough? Welcome to being a normal college student.  Go in the already paid for cafeteria and live in the already paid for on-campus apartments. In my experiences athlete housing is usually far superior to the mortals housing.

For me and my buddies, going to Cracker Barrel was a real treat. When it wasn't a big night out we frequented Waffle House or McDonald’s. Outback was only an option when parents came to town or you wanted to impress a date. It is part of the experience. Living on nothing and joking about being broke is part of learning to appreciate the first real paycheck you get, especially when the first paycheck is $9.7 million from the Broncos.