By Victor C. Kirk
At first, I thought it was a monumental decision, a bold move by the Supreme Court, a rebuke of the NCAA rules would allow student athletes to be compensated. But I was wrong on at least two fronts.
First, the District Court ruling “struck down NCAA rules limiting the education-related compensation or benefits that conference schools may provide to student – athletes playing Division 1 football and basketball”. The Supreme Court upheld this decision. Secondly, “the District Court ruling struck down NCAA rules that limited cash awards for academic achievement but so long as those limits are no lower than cash awards allowed for athletic achievement”. The Supreme Court concurred with this decision as well. The official position of the NCAA was that constraining pay or benefits to student athletes “preserved” amateur – collegiate sports! All while the revenue of the NCAA grows out the ceiling. March Madness generates 1.1 billion annually, college playoffs generate 470 million in television revenue alone. Regards salaries, the President of the NCAA earns nearly 4 million a year, college athletic directors average more than 1 million, and annual salaries for college football coaches’ approach 11 million with some assistants paid more than 2.5 million. Grambling recently announced a renewed contract with its football coach with a base pay of $195,000.
What Black parents seem to uniquely understand about a budding elite quarterback or running back or fullback is the money they can earn when and if they make it to the NFL. 70% of NFL players are Black. But can the brawn match the brain is a stereotypical question when sports are presumed to be chosen over academics? A full ride verses a full tuition could mean up to $157,000 to a private school and upwards of $76,000 for a public school. In contrast ESPN reports only .09 percent of athletes are drafted by the NFL, those that do make it earn on the average of 4.71 million bucks if they are on the Atlanta Falcon’s team, 3.69 million bucks if they are recruited for my wife’s team, the New Orleans Saints, 3.17 million bucks if the play for MY team – the Seattle Seahawks, and 2.97 million if they become a Dallas Cowboy. Clearly the annual average salary paid by the 32 teams representing 2 conferences with four divisions each range from a low of 2.05 million signing with the Miami Dolphins to a high of 4.71 million to become a Falcon. Imagine for a 19-year-old to have this pay distributed over 36 weeks. No one is complaining that the rules now have changed from receiving pay in 17 weekly installments over eight months rather than four. Not every player earns this amount, but minimum salaries are absolutely crazy. A player with less than one year of NFL experience is set to earn greater than $610,000 per year their first year and this base pay is scheduled to rise to 1.065 million by 2030.
Even the practice squads pay a minimum of $8000 per week which is scheduled to increase to $11,500 by 2022. But which schools are a parents’ school of choice for their sons and daughters in sports to gain an economic advantage? Alabama, LSU, and Texas A&M are among the top NFL producers. For 2020 Alabama posted 56 recruits, LSU 41, and Texas A&M 27. The top 10 overall are Notre Dame ranked at number one with 495, LSU stands at ninth overall with 325, Alabama ends the group ranking at number 10 with 319 overall NFL placements. Where are the stats for coach Robinson of Grambling?
Joining the NFL ranks can be a tricky adventure – the old idiom six of one, half a dozen of the other is apropos here. A butt load of money in one hand but the risk of a life ending injury in the other. Retiring at 35 is not bad. But, at the high school level, 90% of student athletes report some sort of sports related injury with 12% having reported a concussion. Between 2008 – 2015, 300 sports related deaths of young athletes occurred in the US alone. The pressure to play even affects coaches. 53% of coaches have complained that they felt pressure from a parent or player to put them back into the game after a student has been injured. The average length of a player’s career in the NFL is 3.3 years. This timeframe can be lengthened or shortened depending on the position played. Kickers last on the average 4.44 years, Cornerbacks 2.94 years, Wide Receivers 2.91 years and a Running Backs’ life expectancy in the NFL is 2.57 years.
The NCAA stance is rather shameful. Perhaps as the court’s decision rankles the rank and file of the athletic establishment and collegiate and professional sports players continue to merge in their beliefs of fair pay, the next jersey I may purchase will be in solidarity to an HBCU player who excels at his game and gets a piece of the pie. We shall see.
