Rules are rules correct? Most people would say "yes" to that question. However, that is easier said than done. People break rules all the time. How many of you drive above the speed limit? Yeah, me too. The interesting thing about the whole "rules are rules" is when athletics is put into the equation people get very moralistic about following rules. Case in point Todd Gurley and Johnny Manziel.
When most people go to college they have to take out loans, have their parents pay for tuition, and have to get a job to help pay for the rising cost of attending college. However, when you are major college athlete, specifically football or even basketball and you get a scholarship to pay for that cost. You are also afforded a monthly stipend to help pay for rent, food, or just going out for the evening. The athlete is getting a free education that many people would die for. I would have done just about anything to get a school to pay for my education, but my athletic skills were not up to snuff, so that was not going to be an option for me.
The universities and colleges that benefit from these athletes play on the field are not sharing in the profit of fans coming to their stadiums to watch the games. Fans line up at college and university bookstores to buy jerseys, shirts, or any number of things that could contain these athletes likenesses. How much do these athletes see from that? That is a rhetorical question.
In my humble opinion, these athletes, like a Johnny Manziel or now a Todd Gurley, and many athletes in the past deserve to benefit from schools using their likeness or the number of their jersey. Anybody else in the business world benefits from things like this being used to sell product. However, when it comes to college athletes benefiting from something like that, people get on their high horse and say that athletes shouldn't. They are getting a free education, yeah, ok, an education that they typically don't see to the end of their four years.
Keep in mind, we are talking about a handful of athletes around the country. Not every college football or basketball player is having their likeness used. So people thinking that this will equate to every athlete benefiting is just slightly exaggerated. I tend think most people would want to benefit from this type of celebrity. Should the rules be changed? I say yes.
As I stated before, we are talking about a handful of athletes, not hundreds or even every player on every team. I would like to say that these universities and colleges could set up some sort of athlete fund that the particular athlete could cash in on his departure from the university. Now, how much of a share that the athlete gets would have to be a negotiated thing between the school and the individual.
Johnny Manziel and Todd Gurley are only some of the players who decided to take advantage of situation that comes to very few people. A situation that I would say most people would take a chance on. Of all the players that are caught, how many more don't? The NCAA needs to redesign their rules that not only help the NCAA, but also these players that are putting millions into the pockets of the universities and colleges. After all, NCAA has repeatedly said that they are there to help and to protect the athlete. Well, time to put your money where your mouth is NCAA...
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