Bleeding the Creed

I guess the red gushing blood and the exposed white bone constituted the assumption that Kevin Ware does indeed bleed Louisville colors.  Isn’t that the creed most of us pledge to our given universities?  At what cost would you actually be willing jeopardize your body to test the theory?  Kevin Ware’s injury yet again raises the question on whether student athletes should be paid.

As for now, athletes receive full or half tuition, board, required course related books, and a monthly stipend.

To students at premiere universities such as the University of Southern California, just one of those listed options would be well received and appreciated. However, in a study by researchers at Ithaca College and a national athletes’ advocacy group, athletes on full scholarship at Division I universities still end up paying approximately $3,000 every year.

At USC in particular, $3,000 is incomparable to the rough $50,000 of debt most students accrue.

The idea that even those on a “full ride” have to take out loans in order to avoid placing additional burdens on their family is absurd.  In the 2011-12 year the FBS full athletic scholarship failed to meet the entirety of attending school by a $3,285 average. This left a large portion of players on a “full” athletic scholarship living below the federal poverty line.

The National College Players Association (NCPA) and the Drexel University Sport Management Department produced a study called, “The $6 Billion Heist: Robbing College Athletes Under the Guise of Amateurism” where they determined what college football and basketball players would make in a fair market using public information on the value of their scholarships and the revenue generated by each athlete.

The study found that each player on the top ten revenue-generating teams would miss out on their hard earned $3.5 million over the course of a 4-year stay at a university.

Kevin Ware specifically is worth $1.6 million annually in a fair market.

Paying fair market value for players may in fact cause unforeseen problems as a result. Especially giving kids that large amount of money at such a young age. Yet, with this argument I see little difference between the ages 19 and 22. In fact, universities understand the type of money that some of their athletes will receive once drafted to the NBA and NFL, but do little for the players’ financial literacy and professional development.

Somewhere along the road to national championships, the term “Student-Athlete” gets convoluted.

Most players are encouraged to pursue majors that impose the least on their commitments to their sport. Disciplines such as business are replaced by communications, or sociology. Each of the two is valuable in its own right, however neither provide the information essential to wealth management.

The 30 for 30 Documentary, “Going for Broke” showed that on average, NFL players go bankrupt 3 years after their retirement from the league. These bankruptcies are typically the result of extravagant purchases and assisting family members who conveniently turn into leeches.

There are very few athletes that have not only raised their jerseys beyond the rafters, but they themselves have risen beyond the courts or playing fields as entrepreneurs. Magic Johnson is the most notable with his most recent business ventures.

This information has been widely discussed for years and has been raised in the same breath as the adequate financial payments for student athletes question, yet nothing has been done on a national scale by the universities that have all the resources necessary to make a substantial change. It’s almost as if they do not care.

The NCAA and universities are not responsible for hospital bills of their injured players. Why? Well, because they argued in court that the players are “student-athletes,” and not “employees” therefore freeing them of liability.

If Kevin Ware happened to be a senior, his dream of making it to the NBA by being showcased through a college medium would have taken just as severe of a break as his leg. On top of the searing pain Ware would have normally been left with a hefty hospital bill that would add that nice salty burn. 

The NCAA has an insurance policy of up to $90,000 for student-athletes, but only during championship situations and with the stipulation that the players must be completely disabled, which Kevin Ware was not. Luckily for Ware’s wallet Louisville paid for his medical expenses. But to call Louisville’s move to pay for the medical bill is hardly honorable, it should be protocol.

Why wouldn’t universities want to take care of the individuals who equally contribute to admission rates, alumni financial support, and billions of dollars of generated revenue?

When will we stop vilifying athletes for choosing to enjoy the fruits of their labor by accepting finances under the table and begin by reconstructing the academic curriculum for student athletes and creating a policies that take care of the players who clearly do anything necessary to win. Even if that means showing the audience what it means to bleed their university’s colors.