Summary and Response to "A Fair Day's Pay for a Fair Day's Work"

In many recent debates the topic has been whether or not college athletes should receive payment, Ramogi Huma, Founder of the National College Players Association, argues that these players have earned money just as any other worker in America in his article "A Fair Day's Pay for a Fair Day's Work". Huma sheds light on the fact that most of the student-athletes attending a Division 1 school under a full scholarship are not really getting a free education but are rather left with expenses ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 in out-of-pocket-expenses each year. Furthermore, he explains that these athletes attract the fans and produce revenue but see none of it while "recent television deals pay the NCAA and its colleges over $1 billion per year". Although Ramogi believes collegiate athletes deserve more than they are currently getting, he does not necessarily think they should get paid a salary. Instead, he feels they should be paid in a way that would decrease violations and encourage players to graduate such as paying them through trust funds that they would be able to collect upon graduation. In sum, Huma believes that with the vast amounts of money the NCAA accumulates each year, some of that money should be dispersed amongst the athletes instead of being used to pay the obscene salaries of coaches and to build massive stadiums.

In the article, Huma makes many great points on why these athletes should be rewarded for their work and I agree with his argument. Though I concede that these athletes work extremely hard and deserve some payment, I still maintain that they should not be paid a salary. Huma offers alternative forms of payments that requires the athletes to maintain a high level of focus on their school work. Although some people may object on the effectiveness of these propositions, I believe these proposals would motivate student-athletes to put the student aspect of college before the athletic side. In my own view, the NCAA brings in more than enough money to support the athletes that form the foundation of their business. This issue is important because these players that dedicate countless hours to their colleges are being taken advantage of and neglected in financial matters in order to afford the unreasonably oversized stadiums and checks of coaches that the NCAA pays.