In our profession, we deal with hypocrisy every day. Juries will barely give a verdict for someone in a car wreck who suffers from a cervical strain, but if those same jurors are involved in a similar wreck with similar injuries, they cannot understand why the insurance company doesn’t offer them the limits available. On the one hand, they don’t want to award money for someone else’s injuries, but they sure want if for themselves.
I see very little difference between that scenario and the Cam Newton (quarterback at Auburn) scenario. The NCAA, college presidents, and other "powers that be" don’t want college athletes such as Cam Newton to receive any payment for choosing a certain university or playing football, but they sure want to reap all the rewards for having these athletes risk their health (see the recent injury to the Rutgers player), make public appearances, sell their likenesses, numbers, jerseys, etc. But, they sure don’t let the players sell them (See Georgia‘s A.J. Green).
The whole system is fraught with hypcorisy. Many of these kids don’t want to go to college and don’t aspire to have a college degree. They want to try to make it to the next level, i.e.: the NFL, NBA, or MLB. So, why does our society make them go to college? Is that the right way?
Michael Dell did not receive a college degree, and he is now a multi-billionaire. Everyone is not meant for college. Forcing individuals to attend college simply de-values the degree – see the law of economics’ supply and demand. Some people would be better off obtaining a specific skill or trade. I’ll bet many plumbers make more than many attorneys. Why? There are too many attorneys, and plumbing does not seem glamorous.
Why can’t the NFL have a development league or minor league system like the MLB? (the answer is money). At that point, kids who want to simply play football can go from high school to the minor leagues. We don’t argue that it’s wrong in baseball. Why do we argue it in football? Those that want a scholarship and a degree can still go to college. Those that don’t, don’t have to.
We waste a ton of time by arguing whether or not Cam Newton has integrity? Whether he cheated? Whether he got paid? Do we really care? Don’t we really just want to see the best athletes on the field on Saturday?
This may seem cynical, but it’s the truth. The Powers that be need to stop acting so righteous as if they want to help these kids. They want to line their pockets and move on. How many kids never graduate college and never make the pros? Where are they now? Where is the NCAA or college to help them? They would probably have been better off making a minor league salary and learning a skill or trade rather than wasting their time in college when they didn’t want to be there in the first place.
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