Connelly: Players should be allowed to profit
The NCAA can’t seem to get out of its own way lately.
With reports of Texas A&M sophomore quarterback Johnny Manziel receiving money in exchange for signing merchandise, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner has become the latest target of the most hypocritical organization in sports.
Under NCAA rules — I’m guessing somewhere between selling your game-worn jersey for cash and trading memorabilia you earned for free tattoos — it states student-athletes cannot accept money for promotion or sale of a product or service.
To clarify, the way the system works is everybody from the university, to the conferences, to the NCAA can profit from the student-athletes. Yet the one name left off the check is one of the main reasons the dollar amount is so high.
In 2010, a similar incident happened when Georgia’s standout wide receiver A.J. Green sold his game-worn Independence Bowl jersey for $1,000 so he could have some extra cash for spring break.
On the surface, it seems like a pretty reasonable thing for a college kid to do before soaking up the rays in Panama City. (I’m sure it was mostly for gas money.) Green was suspended four games, three of which Georgia ended up losing.
To add insult to injury, while Green was suspended you could find 23 different versions of his No. 8 UGA jersey for sale on the university’s official online shop. I guess it’s do as I say, not as I do.
The counter argument to why student-athletes shouldn’t get paid has always been because they’re receiving a six-figure education for free. Let’s be honest, most of the players getting scolded by the NCAA are worth more than $25,000 a year to their school. That’s barely more than minimum wage.
If it’s discovered that Manziel did in fact sign some jerseys and helmets in exchange for money, the NCAA will almost certainly suspend him for some of the 2013 season. So now thanks to rules that not only seem unfair, but also have zero impact on the outcome of games, there’s a chance college football — and Texas A&M — could be without one if its biggest stars for who knows how long. (Their disciplinary inconsistency is another issue for a different day.)
The NCAA has made a step in the right direction by no longer selling athletes’ jerseys through their online shop, but that was only after they were embarrassed publicly for being the hypocrites they are by ESPN’s Jay Bilas earlier in the month.
It wouldn’t be the start of a new college football season without a thick cloud hanging over at least one major program. After all, college football has become a moneymaking industry. The NCAA doesn’t have to start paying players, but at the very least they should be allowed to profit off their own name.
Even if it is Johnny Football.
Kevin Connelly is a sports writer at The Vindicator. Email him at kconnelly@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter @Connelly_Vindy.