Today’s opinion is from Cam McCormick.
Should student-athletes be paid? It seems to be an age-old question and debate year after year. Just recently, the NCAA announced student-athletes will be permitted to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness in 2021, however, not everyone will benefit from this new rule. Although the new ruling is forward progression, there is still money on the table in which many feel entitled.
As a student athlete myself, playing a sport while carrying a full academic load is extremely demanding. Our mental, physical, and emotional state is tested on a daily basis. There are insurmountable pressures on us that the average student doesn’t have to endure, as well as expectations and commitments a typical student doesn’t experience. Most college students are able to work to bring in money to survive, and can also control their school load. Student athletes are unable to work due to the demands of the sport and the time it takes to perfect our craft. We are also required to perform a certain number of community service hours each year to give back to the communities in which we reside. It is not uncommon for our sport to take up to 40 hours of effort each week. Playing a sport in college is simply a full-time job, and the number of credits we need to take each term cannot be adjusted.
Additionally, every time we step onto the court, field, track, pool, etc, we are putting ourselves atrisk for physical injuries, and sometimes those injuries are life-long and also life-ending.Although every athlete chooses to take the risk, the university benefits greatly by the risks wetake. When injuries occur, they don’t just affect the individual physically, but mentally as well.Mental set-backs from injuries can take a huge toll on a person, and, sometimes, they unfortunately don’t recover. Does a free education justify the risks? What price can be put on aloss of life, mental illness, or life long pain from an injury sustained while playing?
As a football player, it is clear the amount of money our sport provides to universities across the country. When the pandemic hit, the threat of seasons canceling raised alarms that some schools may close due to the lost revenue of not having a season. Many canceled multiple sport programs, because they could no longer afford to have them. This tells me, the revenues are extraordinary. At Oregon, in 2019 alone, the football program brought in $72.8 million dollars. The universities reap the financial rewards while the student athlete assumes the majority of the risks. For these reasons, paying student athletes beyond their “name, image, and likeness” seems like the right thing to do.