Originally Posted by
sleepy dawg
Benefits do not equal pay. You wouldn't work for a company without pay just b/c you get great benefits.
Many kids have their books paid for, rent paid for, tuition paid for, but they're still free to earn money. Football players are student works just like the guy in the computer labs who earn a paycheck.
Not to mention, many athletes do not have a scholarship, or not a full one. They pay their own way.
The term "amateur" is nothing more than a word or an ideal. College football is only an amateur because we say it is, but we're just calling it amateur right now because they say it is and they don't get paid. Amateur sports should have to do with how much those athletes train, how much the sport makes, and at what level they play at. Many college athlete's sport is just about their entire life while in school. Often times their putting in more work than most people at their jobs.
So yes, they get some nice benefits, but they work hard... damn hard, and often in shitty conditions, many hours a day. They perform their trade at an elite level where often times very few people in the world are better. College football is a billion dollar industry where the only true worker aren't the ones making the money. The corporate sponsors, the schools, the ADs, the coaches, the refs, etc. all get paid, and well, and the only people creating the product for them to even exist get none of it. How is this amateurism? How is a billion dollar industry amateur? Because it isn't amateur. College football is a professional sport right now. This would not be tolerated in any other industry in this country.