Opinion: College Football vs. NFL
by Jesse J. Lewis, Sr.
Football is a contact sport in college and the pros. It’s not a week that passes on the college level that in every football game between two rivals at least one person is injured and will not play in two or three games or sit out the remainder of the season.
In many instances on the college level, potential 1st, 2nd, or 3rd round NFL draftees, particularly in their junior years, just stop playing. It does not mean they will not show up, but will not use their best efforts to block and tackle for fear of getting hurt. The reason they are afraid is they could become permanently disabled. They also realize if they have been hurt and need a serious operation, they will not be drafted by the NFL in the first or second round where you get the big bucks for signing.
Case in point, South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney was predicted to be a Heisman Trophy candidate for 2013, and according to the polls, he is No. 1. He has been sitting out every other game and for the whole year only had 2-3 sacks. In many instances, the parents are giving their kids advice: Don’t get hurt because we will lose a lot of money.
Do I think college kids should be paid? The answer is no. I have two reasons for this statement:
1. They are already being paid. When they are given scholarships as a freshman, they are guaranteed the same privileges as seniors if they never touch the ball. They get a four-year education if they maintain a certain average. When they finish school, they don’t owe student loans or anyone else. A one-year college education at the University of Alabama including food, room and board, and books would be $75,000; for four years $300,000.
2. If the school starts paying athletes the best athletes would go to the schools who pay the most. In other words, Michigan St., Notre Dame, Alabama, Stanford, Texas A&M, Florida and Florida St., Oregon, schools with the most money and alumni with deep pockets, would have all four and five star recruits.
What they should do is get a very lucrative insurance policy on all student athletes who play contact sports.
The NFL just recently agreed to give hundreds of millions of dollars to many former players who have suffered concussions. I totally disagree with this concept. Here are the reasons why:
1. This is a profession that they chose. When choosing this profession they should have understood the consequences.
2. Once you start paying off, everybody who ever played will claim some type of disability. On a sport show on Sunday, Tony Dorsett–who hasn’t played in 20 years, plus others, are asking the NFL for x-number of dollars. They will start coming out of the woodwork over and over again.
The next step will be boxers who claim they have been hurt. Case in point: Muhammad Ali. Presently he has Parkinson’s disease. He can claim if not for boxing, he would not have developed Parkinson’s. When you choose boxing as your profession, you understand your opponent can pound on your head until he knocks your brains out. Then at 50 years old with no money, you decide you want to fight a 22-year-old for a big payday. What happens is you get incapacitated for life. Who are you going to blame: the boxing commissioners, the promoters, arena owners, or your fans who bought the tickets?
The answer to all of this is the NFL should do the same that I recommended for the colleges and take out insurance policies for all players. If they suffer life-threatening injuries or short term injuries, then the insurance company will pay for the remainder of their lives. The league and the players should be responsible for the insurance premium. The boxers should take out their own insurance.
If this trend continues with the colleges and pro football, the next step in this triangle is golfers who will want to get paid for back problems, wrist aches, leg problems, or whatever happens to them, though they are independent contractors. They do not get paid by the PGA and only receive what they earn. They should start today with an insurance policy they pay through the PGA for the remainder of their lives just in case a catastrophy happens to them.
My guess would be I’ll get more email from this article than I did when I wrote that Auburn will win eight games or more in 2013. I cannot leave this article without mentioning Nick Saban. The Crimson Tide’s chances of winning all games during the regular season is 75 percent. The chances of the Crimson Tide beating Missouri is 50-50. Missouri is the most difficult team that Alabama has played all year.
Alabama does no match up well with Missouri. In plain and simple terms Missouri has got their number. Missouri has a triple threat quarterback, three wide receivers six feet and 4, 5, and 6 inches tall. Alabama’s backfield are freshmen and sophomores only six feet tall. I realize that Nick Saban does not have Missouri on his radar at the present time, but I think he will be able to fix it before Missouri and Alabama meet in Atlanta for the Southeastern Conference Championship. If Missouri and Alabama had to play today, my guess would be Missouri would win by one touchdown.
e-mail:jjlewis@birminghamtimes.com
