EDLD 6510

Lindsay Gove

Emerging Issue Brief

A hot topic in the world of college athletics right now is the debate over whether or not
student athletes should be paid to play. Some believe that with the time and effort these athletes
put into their sport, they should be compensated. Others say that the scholarship and free room
and board is enough. It goes without saying that these students give a lot to their school. It is up
to us to determine just how much we are giving back to the student.
In 2013, a popular college football player from Texas A&M, Johnny Manziel, appeared on
the cover of an issue of Time Magazine with the headline, Its Time to Pay College Athletes.
Although this topic seems to be made increasingly relevant by high profile athletes as of late,
the issue has been around since the mid 1900s. In April of 1950, the University of Denver had a
case of an injured scholarship athlete filing a workers compensation claim for an injury he
sustained during football practice. Ernest Nemeth was playing football while also keeping up
with odd jobs for the university to make some extra money, contingent upon him staying on the
football team. Nemeth claimed to the court that he was employed to play football, and his injury
was caused by this employment. The Supreme Court ruled in Nemeths favor, citing that he was,
indeed, an employee and deserved the right to workers compensation (Kisska-Schulze &
Epstein, 2014). Although Nemeth was, according to the school, getting paid for the other jobs he
was doing, these jobs were dependent upon him playing football. This is one of the first
documented cases of schools trying to get around the amateur rule.
Those lobbying for the pay for play model argue that student athletes are giving a
substantial amount of their time to their sport. Ultimately, universities are benefiting from these
students, making a large amount of money off of big revenue sports such as mens football and
basketball. For example, the NCAA March Madness tournament brings in roughly $800 million a
year (Kiiska-Schulze & Epstein, 2014). Money is being made off of the hard work of student
athletes. Paying these students, however, brings up logistical questions. Who gets paid and how
much? Sports such as soccer or softball do not bring in revenue. Should those athletes be paid?
Should the third string lineman be paid the same amount as the starting quarterback if they are
both putting in the same amount of time at practice? Implications include a potential monopoly
by big time schools. The best teams will quickly become the teams who can shell out the most
amount of money to their players and there will be an immediate increase in transfer requests
from players looking to get more money elsewhere (Kiiska-Schulze & Epstein, 2014).
A student athletes primary goal should be obtaining their degree, not making the most
money as possible while in college. In 2000 only 13 of the 211 rookies who were picked up by
an NFL team, had completed their degree. Looking at the degrees obtained by student athletes
as a whole, we see predominately degrees deemed non-academic degrees, meaning they are
unlikely to lead to jobs paying a respectable amount (Meggyesy, 2000). Studies also show that
while in college, student athletes have poor career planning. This is often caused by their poor
identity development. Their identity in their sport is so strong that it often overshadows their
personal and student identities (Lally & Kerr, 2005). 50% of college basketball and football
players believed that they would play at the professional level (Kennedy & Dimick, 1987). This
lessens the motivation to focus on an academic career.
Instead of paying student athletes and feeding into a sports only culture, student affairs
professionals should focus on working with these students on their personal and student
identities. Athletes score lower on educational and career plans, and mature relationships
(Evans et. al., 2010). Provide students with activities pertaining to post college life. Most
colleges require weekly study tables. Use this time to encourage the exploration of their student
identity. Lally and Kerr say that, Investment in the student role identity may encourage the
exploration of professional vocations linked to their academic programs. Pushing student
athletes towards passions besides their sport will prepare them for a world after their sport.

EDLD 6510

Lindsay Gove

References
Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010). Student
development in college: Theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Kennedy, S.R. & Dimick, K.M. (1987). Career maturity and professional sports expectations of
college football and basketball players. Journal of College Student Personnel, 28, 293-297.
Kisska-Schulze, K., Epstein, A.(2014). "Show me the money!" - analyzing the potential state tax
implications of paying student-athletes. Virginia Sports and Entertainment Law Journal,
14(1), 13-49
Lally, P. S., & Kerr, G. A. (2005). The career planning, athletic identity, and student role identity
of intercollegiate student athletes. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76(3),
275-285. doi:10.5641/027013605X13080719840717
Meggyesy, D. (2000). Athletes in big-time college sport. Society, 37(3), 24-28.
My Takeaway:
One of my biggest takeaways from writing this brief was that it is easy to write a paper
on a topic you are genuinely interested in. I couldnt stop doing my research and I was excited
to tell my peers about what I had learned. I was surprised at the amount of implications
associated with paying student athletes. Not only would the tax situation be difficult with athletes
playing in multiple states, but there would be bidding wars much like in professional sports. The
focus would be taken away from academics even more so than it already is. I had assumed that
most student athletes realized that their future was not in athletics, leading them to focus on
vocational goals in college. The athletic identity, however, is so strong that this is often not the
case. I look forward to using this new information as I begin my volunteer work with the athletic
academic services here at WMU.