I’m against all of it and I think Arian Foster‘s story is laughable.
Via CBSSPorts: “There were plenty of times where throughout the month I didn’t have enough for food,” Foster said in the 90-minute documentary. “Our stadium had like 107,000 seats; 107,000 people buying a ticket to come watch us play. It’s tough just like knowing that, being aware of that. We had just won and I had a good game, 100 yards or whatever. You go outside and there’s hundreds of kids waiting for you. You’re signing autographs, taking pictures, whatever.
“Then I walk back, and reality sets in. I go to my dorm room, open my fridge, and there’s nothing in my fridge. Hold up, man. What just happened? Why don’t I have anything to show for what I just did? There was a point where we had no food, no money, so I called my coach and I said, ‘Coach, we don’t have no food. We don’t have no money. We’re hungry. Either you give us some food, or I’m gonna go do something stupid.’ He came down and he brought like 50 tacos for like four or five of us. Which is an NCAA violation. [laughs] But then, the next day I walk up to the facility and I see my coach pull up in a brand new Lexus. Beautiful.”
Hey guys, newsflash, if Arian Foster played Division 1 football as he suggests (no one remembers because he wasn’t drafted,) then why would he ever be without food? Anyone who’s been to college knows that you can get food just about any time you want, and I’m not even talking about a Division 1 athlete. Athletes typically have their own cafeteria, own cafe hours, and can get food whenever they want. I don’t believe for one minute that he was without food at any time during college, especially if he lived in the dorms. If he went and moved off campus, then that’s his situation to deal with just like any other college student but I’m sure he’d still have a full meal plan since he was an athlete. On top of that, if you want to try to tell me that there was no friend/ groupie/ student who could hook him up with a free meal at the dorms, you are simply unaware of how college works.
I’m still against college players getting paid. If we are talking about football players, they get a ton of free stuff during their time at school, extra tutoring to keep them eligible and while they make a ton of money for the school, they also cost the school a huge amount of money. Most small time DI schools have to cut sport after sport just so they can keep their heads above water while supporting their football team. At big time schools, these students literally have to worry about nothing but playing football. Their classes are hand-picked, their tutors make sure they pass and their coaches keep them in line. If they decide they want to get high, drive drunk, or do whatever they feel like with the little money they have, it’s their issue to deal with.
And look, I’m the first one to admit the NCAA is a corrupt bunch of old men getting richer and richer off of these college football players, but you know what, I’ve seen far too many sports eliminated from colleges because the school can’t afford to keep them running because they don’t make a profit. The last time I checked, colleges and universities were non-profit, yet if your sport can’t make money, the school shuts you down, while letting your football team run up big tabs in an attempt to stay relevant. Just look at what happened at Towson University last year. Men’s soccer and basketball were eliminated (baseball I believe came back) because of lack of funds, yet football came up in the red. Towson football isn’t very good, but it’s division 1 so they’re going to trot out 20+ coaches, travel all over the country and god forbid if they make a bowl game, they’ll have to spend money on hotels, flight and tickets that the NCAA will make them buy even if they can’t find anyone to purchase the tickets from them.
It’s a corrupt system no doubt, but I’m not convinced that paying a college student to play football is the answer. Too many questions will arise about how much, pay scales, bonuses that we’ll end up digging ourselves into an even bigger hole. Take the money that football makes you and reinvest it back in to the school (organization) like a real non-profit is supposed to. While we’re doing that, let’s get some leaders in the NCAA that aren’t money hungry clowns.
