Attorney David Cornwell "NCAA Mandated That He Feed Their Families, But He Could Not Feed His Own."

by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)

Readers of this blog will remember that I have already stated my belief that the system of college athletics is broken, and it should be reformed to allow Players to be paid, although that compensation should not be paid from universities and instead Players should be eligible to receive compensation based on their likeness not actual pay.  If you haven't seen it the petition can be found here >>>>  http://esquiresports.blogspot.com/2011/06/petition-to-allow-collegiate-players-to.html.  

With the recent developments dominating the sports pages involving scandals at Ohio State University and the University of Miami, and the firings of the coach and athletic director at University of North Carolina, I felt now was a great time to reexamine the state of college sports.The quote from attorney David Cornwell in the course of representing former Ohio State Quarterback Terrelle Pryor, that I used as the title shows the hypocrisy of the amateurism rules.  

As such I decided to take Cornwell up on his call to arms on challenging "the NCAA on its 'amateurism' rules." To me this system is nothing short of an injustice, there is no justification to allow enormous amounts of money to be made for everyone involved (i.e. NCAA executives, coaches, and the university itself, etc. ); but the player.  Lets just face it, prohibiting players from profiting off their likeness is patently unfair.  

I know players do receive an education at a university for free and also receive other benefits during their time at the university which obviously have value.  However, when compared to the value lost by Players based on not being able to profit off their likeness during collegiate years, its clear that the latter is more valuable.  The large amounts of money boosters, agents, and others have shown themselves willing to spend to get in contact with these young superstars of college sports illustrates that.

So what do I suggest?  A re-writing of the rulebook totally abandoning the rules of amateurism.  That my friends may just be the only way to reestablish the integrity of college sports.