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No way! No way! No way!

There are several major fundamental reasons why collegiate athletes should not be paid to play:

1. They already do get paid. It may not be in an exact amount of dollars and cents, but they receive an incredible amount of fringe benefits. Their education is paid for, they receive extracurricular help with their classes (tutors, special treatment, etc), the best accommodations, and they receive the opportunity to get on the fast track towards becoming a pro in their respective sports.

2. If they were paid to play in college, then not as many athletes would push themselves as hard to make the next step up to the professional level.

3. Where do you draw the line? If you pay the athletes, then don't you have to pay the cheerleaders, the mascot, and the marching band, not to mention all of the other volunteers who help out with the various athletic programs?

4. Salaries would be impossible to determine. How much do you pay the athletes? Do you pay soccer players more than softball players? Should the star quarterback make more than the kicker or the offensive lineman? Yes, attendance and popularity varies from sport to sport. Do you base salaries on revenue from ticket sales then? What if a football team from a small school (oh, like Appalachian State, for example) runs the table on the big teams in the country and somehow wins the national championship? Wouldn't you need to adjust their salaries the following year? Where would that money come from? Not all schools sell as many tickets as Michigan or USC does, and most don't even have the capacity to accommodate the crowds.

5. Sponsors would want to become involved with individual athletes instead of teams. Great for the quarterback, bad for the school. Schools would lose the revenue they get from team merchandise and memorabilia sales. Wouldn't you rather have a Matt Leinart jersey than a generic one that just says USC Trojans on it?

Let's face it. The athletes would love to get paid, but it would open up a can of worms that could never be contained. The bottom line is, and always should be, if you want to make the big bucks, then practice, work hard, and maybe one day you'll make it to the pros. If not, then at least you'll have that degree to fall back on that was provided for you by the rest of us who paid for our education.

Learn more about this author, Matt Mortensen.
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