What The Term Student-Athlete Should Mean

What The Term “Student-Athlete” Should Mean
Josh Williams
4-23-2014

When I was a young boy, every Christmas I would receive gifts from my aunts and uncles, my cousins and godparents. The best ones were from our grandparents, and some more from friends and family. After every Christmas was over, my mom would grab me by the ear and drag me over to our dining room table. While there I would try my hardest to write legibly the word “Thank You” to each and every person who spent the money to pay for my new Ninja Turtle toy or LEGO set. It would take all of five minutes, but I dreaded it every time.

Some people say that NCAA “student-athletes” deserve to get paid extra money for representing their Universities and Colleges. But I say they need to sit down and write a Thank You note to those providing them a free education.

Today, the term “student-athlete” gets stretched more than Michael Jordan’s arm in the movie Space Jam. After UCONN won the National Championship, their star player Shabazz Napier exclaimed to reporters that he went to bed some nights “starving.” Once that hit the newswires I knew something would happen. 8 days after the MOST OUTSTANDING Player in the NCAA tournament said he couldn’t afford food; the NCAA stepped in and proposed a new rule providing unlimited meals and snacks to all athletes. Little does everyone know, athletes are already given three meals per day OR a stipend for those meals. What happened to that stipend you got Shabazz?

More importantly, what happened to personal responsibility? College is a place for people to learn and gain maturity. To budget their money. To learn time management. To understand how to live on your own. There were times in college where I went by with hot dogs and easy mac, but you don’t see me or every other non-student athlete asking for handouts or a “stipend.”

But how much is enough? First it’s as if the college athletes want money for food? Then they will want a stipend for gas. Next it is going to be - I need money for clothes, because I can’t afford them. These colleges weren’t provided for you to suck off the teat and steal every penny away. How about you spend the money that was given to you for food, and not jewelry, new rims for your car, or beer and liquor. Maybe they should buy you a pen and paper so you can write a THANK YOU note.

Depending upon which University or College you attend, the average “student-athlete” reaps between $100,000 to $250,000 in free money from scholarships. Some students are redshirted, and then medically redshirted; so they have five, sometimes six years of living tuition-free from their scholarships. Many athletes, (who know the full repercussions when they signed up to play), have been injured in their respective field of play, are also covered for every single penny of medical costs they incur. Oh yeah, don’t forget the free books, rent in the best apartments, all the apparel you want, and the fact that you get to play the role of BIG MAN ON CAMPUS, just by wearing a letter jacket.

According to the NCAA, there are 450,000 “student-athletes” that compete athletically. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the United States Department of Labor, there are 13,800 professional athletes in the U.S. So by my calculation only 3.1% of those College athletes become professional in their sport. That means that for every Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Julius Randle making millions in the NBA, there are 97 people living their everyday lives just like you and me. And not every pro is making millions either.

What I’m trying to make you understand is that we all see the success stories, the millionaires, the endorsements, the shoes, posters, Youtube videos and Sportscenter Top Ten highlights. Everybody always talks about the few who are in the limelight, because that is what we see on TV and on the internet. But they are the few…

The average income for those 13,800 professional athletes is $71,850. So for every Peyton Manning you see in another Buick Commercial making $20 million, there are hundreds of more minor league baseball players, endorsed track and field athletes, and others that are just scraping by like the average US citizen (which makes $44,000 plus). What is even more disheartening is that the majority of these athletes become bankrupt, broke or in financial distress by the time they get out of sports.

In a 2009 Sports Illustrated article, studies showed that 60% of former NBA players became broke within five years of retirement. And it gets worse. 78% of former NFL players become bankrupt within TWO years of retirement!
The problem isn’t in the system, it’s the players themselves. They don’t know how to manage money, because they never were taught how to. Many athletes grow up in impoverished homes, and didn’t have much, if any support from their parents. So when they become rich they over-indulge and don’t care about their long term future. All they care about is the NOW, not the LATER.

People need to realize that if you want to pay those Johnny Manziels for their autographs or Shabazz Napier for their food, then, whelp now you have to pay for all that food for the big guy throwing shotput. And don’t forget the entire team of soccer players, swimming and diving, women’s golf and lacrosse teams, etc, etc. This is not a pity party for just one person, it is a Free-For-All that SOMEBODY has to pay for, and it is going to come straight out of the pockets of the Colleges and Universities.

The day you see “student-athletes” get paid is the same day you will see thousands of athletic programs get cut. Thousands of scholarships will get pulled from the hockey teams, the baseball programs, the volleyball squads, etc. And the worst part – the mid-major schools that don’t have those big TV contracts will have to start chipping away at the top. All those football stadiums in the non-BCS conferences will be sitting empty because they won’t have the money available to keep it going.

Little do you realize, but every sport except football and men’s basketball LOSES money. Only 12% of women’s basketball programs make money. The rest of these sports are kept afloat by subsidizing the “Granddaddy of them All” – FOOTBALL. If Colleges were forced to pay all athletes, we would truly have the HAVES and the HAVE NOT’s.

If we paid athletes, the Kentucky’s in basketball will get EVEN better. Heck, even the Nebraska football program might just be good again. Parody in College athletics will be non-existent. But with rewards for the few big programs, we will see suffrage by many smaller schools who won’t be able to afford to pay ALL of their athletes. Traditions will be broken, letter winners won’t be able to come back and watch their old programs play, and most importantly – the majority of those average athletes out there won’t get the opportunity to play sports at smaller schools.

SAD, but so very TRUE.

So back to that 3.1% number. How come we don’t hear any flack from the other 96.9% of “student-athletes” who think they deserve more money? It’s because they are fully compensated. And then some. Sure they would like more money, but their face isn’t on ESPN. Their jersey isn’t getting sold at the bookstore. It’s because they are gracious for their scholarship money and don’t ask questions. Shoot, the majority of Division III, NAIA and lower level Colleges don’t even give out scholarships. They are paying tuition, room and board JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.

Recent College graduates in the US in December 2013 had an average student loan debt of $29,000. Add on personal, auto and credit card debts that were incurred in College, and that number jumps up to $35,000. All those “student-athletes” that received scholarships don’t have to pay a single dime. And if they did need money for food or spending money, there is financial aid, work studies, and part-time jobs available at their disposal. I just wish they would have used their time wisely and attended that FINANCIAL 101 course freshman year.

We shouldn’t be putting the blame on the Universities and the NCAA, we should be pointing the finger right back at the athletes themselves. And oh yeah, maybe they could spend five minutes out of their day and write a thank you note to the Colleges that gave them that free education.