The Ability For A Playoff System in College Football

Over the past few years there has been a great argument over the deciding of a national champion in college football. Currently the system involves the use of multiple different avenues determined in the regular season to decide who will play in the national champion.  These avenues include a coaches poll, overall record and strength of schedule.  The other teams are then distributed to different games refereed to as bowl games which create much income for smaller schools who may not get as much income through out the regular season as others.  The argument against this system is for a playoff system which allows for teams to play to decide the national championship game instead of coaches polls and who you play through the year.  The current system demonstrates the greed involved within the NCAA.  Keeping the bowl system helps schools get more rich off of the players without having to compensate them in return.  If the major college football programs separated from the NCAA both of these problems would be fixed.  The schools could decide for themselves to have a playoff system, and since the smaller schools will not be involved to gain money from the bowls it will not be an issue.  In addition this will allow for the players to be compensated to the sacrifices they put on the field and the dedication they have to their team and willing them to make the play offs and a national championship game.

Brain Damage And Football

Over the past decade much more recently there has been a focus on head injuries in football players.  The studies show that concussions that players receive in football as well as the direct daily hits to the head decrease mental capacity.  Recently the NFL and NCAA have put in new rules to hopefully protect players from brain damage.  These rules demonstrate that the people in charge of football know that it is not good for them to play.  However they still allow for the players to decrease there mental capacity to make money.  Professional football players are compensated for there potential harm with big multi-million dollar contracts, however college players are not.  These players are putting just as much risk on their bodies, brains and mental health and a professional athlete but are not compensated for their sacrifice.  With this sacrifice schools make millions of dollars from the players.  But with the rules in place by the NCAA many of  these athletes cannot even receive money for tuition let alone rent and food.  These athletes should be compensated for the risk that they put on their brains.  considering the many of them will be impaired for the sacrifices that allowed their schools to get rich, providing tuition and basic essentials should not be a problem.  This travesty that we can enjoy watching players play and enjoy reaping the benefits of their labor but we cannot allow for them to be compensated for it. This is something i hope will change in the future.

The NFL's influence within the NCAA

As i discussed in my last post Terrell Pryor and fellow classmates got suspended by the NCAA for selling merchendise and other things.  Another thing occured after this suspension was dulled out.  Pryor decided to forgoe his senior season of football and go into the supplemental National Football League draft where he was chosen by the Oakland Raiders.  Pryor would then not be forced to serve his suspension because the NCAA is supposedly a separate entity from the NFL.  However this was not the case and Pryor was sentenced to the same suspension by the NFL that he received from the NCAA.  This shows that even though the NCAA is supposed to be separate from the NFL the NFL still connects what you do previously in the NCAA into account, play wise as well as in Pryor's case discipline wise.  Why don't we instead of attempting to disconnect what is all ready so obviously connected for the sake of academic integrity, just create a collegiate football league connected with the NFL which allows for its players to be paid and not be tied with the laws and bureaucracy of the NCAA.  Both Major League Baseball as well as the National Basketball association have developmental leagues in which they pay players to develop into the athletes they wish them to be.  The NFL all ready has a developmental league within college football, however this league is basically working student athletes like indentured servants hoping to work of their debt in order to make some money, which the majority do not.  If there was a College Football  League outside the NCAA this would not occur and player's could be compensated for the developmental work they put in and risk toward their bodies they endure to be prepared to play in the  NFL.

Simple Kids Making A Simple Living

In 2010 five athlete of the Ohio State Football program were suspended for five games including quarterback Terrell Pryor for selling championship rings, jerseys, and awards according to ESPN.COM.  The NCAA fine the students up to $2,500 for the selling of these merchandise.  If college football athletes were to receive financial compensation for the services they performed for the school then this would not be a problem.  The athletes would get all the things they needed paid for which would allow them to be better students and better athletes having to not worry about financial troubles.  It is absurd that we ask these young adults to put their bodies on the line for their schools to get rich and they do not receive compensation for it.  And if they do try to make some money off of what they have done the NCAA suspense them for this.  What i believe is most atrocious is that the NCAA forced the payers to pay back fines of thousands of dollars.  Being a student myself i know that it is not very easy to get your hands on a couple thousand dollars to pay your rent let alone pay fines for doing something you should be allowed to do.  The NCAA are forcing kids to make money in ways that would get them suspended instead of just giving them salaries that they deserve.  This is a travesty that should no longer be allowed to continue.  next time i will continue to discuss T. Pryors suspension as it continues to the NFL.

The Worth of the College Athlete

This year an advocacy group the national college players association came out with a study on the average worth of college athletes.  the numbers they came up with were astounding.  The average college football player is worth $121,000 while the average college basketball player is worth $265,000.  What is truly incredible is that with the worth of these athletes being so high they still receive no money for their worth.  the universities receive all the money while the athletes take all the risk.  Obviously tuition does not cost over 100,000 dollars so it is obvious that this is a feasible thing to accomplish for most schools.  It is a reasonable thing to ask that college student receive tuition for income they bring to the school. If not they may resort to other things to receive money to go to school and pay for a room and food.  lets stop this atrocity of universities taking advantage of college athletes.  

Earnings of Major College Football Programs

In the collegiate football world many schools are making millions of dollars from there student athletes.  These Schools are limited by the NCAA to only allow for 63 full scholarships to be dulled out with the average collegiate roster being around 125 players.  However these restrictions take advantage of  the nearly 50% of student athletes whom do not receive scholarships for the work they provide for the university.  Below is a chart of the twelve most earning programs annual income in college football in 2009 from Forbs.com(http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/22/most-vaulable-college-football-teams-business-sports-college-football_slide.html)


Texas Longhorns                        $59 million


Notra Dame Fighting Irish               $38 million


Penn State Nittany Lions                 $50 million


Nebraska Cornhuskers                    $50 million


Alabama Crimson Tide                   $38 million


Florida Gators                               $41 million 


Louisiana State’s Tigers                  $39 million


Ohio State Buckeyes                        $36 million


Georgia Bulldogs                           $45 million


Oklahoma Sooners                        $40 million


Michigan Wolverines                      $34 million


South Carolina Gamecocks             $37 million


According to CollegeBoard.com(http://www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/add-it-up/4494.html) the average collage tuition cost about 36 thousand dollars annually.  with a total of 125 players at 36 thousand dollars the total around 4.5 million dollars.   These programs as shown above are creating more than enough revenue to provide complete scholarships to all athletes practicing, playing and butting their bodies on the line for these programs.  The only way this can be done is that if the major programs of the country succeed from the NCAA and its guidelines and create a new set of rules and regulations for the major college football programs in america that allow for the entire team to receive a free education.  And the fact that it has not been done yet is a travesty. 

Mission Statement

The mission of this blog is to inform the public on the atrocities of collegiate football, and its players in the US.  Many of the programs in the Collegiate Football world make multi-million dollar earnings every year.  These earnings come from the players whom receive no compensation. This blog will not only discuss the issues, but also give solutions to these problems in the Collegiate Football world.