On the one hand, paying the players is fair. They put their asses on the line to make a ton of money for their schools. They deserve to be paid. On the other hand, it would completely ruin college football. The best players going to the highest bidder isn't what college football is about. College football is about passion. The fact that these guys are out their doing what they love for "nothing" is one of the things that makes college football more exciting than the pros. You don't get the drama that comes with professionals and you see players playing for a school simply because they love that school and they love the sport.
I think you need a system that balances both of these factors. Players shouldn't be straight up paid, but they should be compensated better than they are now.
A scholarship is great, but if players aren't required to graduate then it's completely useless and, quite frankly, a joke. If the NFL won't create their own minor league system, and therefore players are forced to go to college (and risk injury) even if they may be good enough for the pros, then players should be required to really go to college. They should be required to graduate. Nobody should be allowed in the NFL without a college degree. And teach these kids personal finance. Many of them will see individual checks bigger than many people will make in five years. There's no reason why these guys should ever be broke.
How many players get injured and have their lives ruined? There needs to be a healthcare fund set up. This should be for short term injuries as well as injuries down the road. Players should have a form of permanent health care. This could probably be setup in conjunction with the NFL, but at the end of the day, the players need to be protected. Setup a fund for life long health care for anyone who played college football.
In addition to health care, since players are required to go to college and forego potentially huge contracts, that risk should be hedged. Another fund should be set up for potential salaries in the case of injury. I don't really know how you'd be able to determine who deserves what, but if a player is forced to go to college and not earn a dime because that's how the system works, they should be able to recoup potential earnings if they get hurt in the process.
Basically what I'm saying is that the NCAA, the NFL, and colleges, instead of paying their coaches enormous salaries and building absolutely ridiculous facilities -- both things that make everyone but the players more well off, should be forced to spend their profits directly on the players that generate them. That doesn't mean they should be paying players directly, it means they should be supporting them much more than they already are.
Handing an 18 year old kid $250,000 isn't gonna fix a dam thing, but saving $250,000 that he generates from his play and giving it to him if he gets injured is completely fair and should be required.
And let the freakin kids eat and party. It's college...
Players aren't required to go to college at all to be eligible for the NFL.
3 years out of high school and you can go.
There's no way the NFL could mandate a degree only league.
As for setting up college players for life, does that include the 3rd string long snapper, or 3rd string kicker?
My point being, that only a select few make football their professional career. The rest of them, outside of Stillwater, Oklahoma, use the free ride at a university to build their professional foundation in other fields.
What you suggest is a quasi pay for performance plan, and would create a system of haves and have nots amongst college players.
The stars would reap huge benefits and the lesser players would receive much less.
If you are going to pay players, then everyone must benefit equally or not at all.
Healthcare for life? We can't even get healthcare for for every American citizen, and you propose 60 plus years of healthcare for every college football player?
Time to come back down to the real world.