‘We’re Putting Our Lives on the Line’: Northwestern Football Player on Why He Needs a Union

[Omaha Steve]

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/16203/northwestern_football_players_seek_union_representation/




Northwestern football players are seeking union representation, which would allow them to bargain as university employees, challenging the NCAA's definition of 'student-athlete.' (NU Sports/ Creative Commons)

BY Alex Lubben Thursday, Jan 30, 2014, 4:50 pm

For the first time in the history of college athletics, NCAA football players are seeking union representation. On Tuesday, Ramogi Huma, president of the National College Players Association, filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of players at Northwestern University.

By organizing, the Northwestern players are effectively arguing that, like NFL players, NCAA athletes do play professional ball. Gaining union recognition would allow these athletes to bargain for rights similar to other university employees, such as workers’ compensation and the acknowledgement that they are more than simply “student athletes.”

The term “student athlete” has been used by the NCAA repeatedly to emphasize that college athletes are not employees and to bar them from receiving “undue” compensation. When questioned by PBS Frontline about the disparity between his $1.7 million salary and players’ lack of direct compensation, NCAA President Mark Emmert responded, “I can’t say it often enough, obviously, that student athletes are students. They are not employees.”

This semantic twist has, so far, been enough to keep players from receiving the same rights as workers. Many are on year-to-year scholarships; if a player is deemed no longer valuable to his team—which can mean anything from injury to poor performance on the field—even if his grades are stellar, his scholarship can be stripped. And neither colleges nor the NCAA are required to care for athletes who experience conditions, like brain trauma, that manifest after a player graduates. (Both the NCAA and the NFL have come under fire for being reluctant to admit or address the long-term physical trauma associated with the sport they sell.)

FULL story at link.

[Squinch]

1. I know there will be a lot who disagree with me strongly about this, and I know

that I am ignorant about the feelings of sports fans. because I just don't get sports as being anything but a pleasant diversion, but this strikes me as pretty silly.

"We're putting our lives on the line." But it's a game. They are choosing to put their lives on the line over a game. That's a dumb thing to do. And I know it's lucrative, and I know it's some of these guys' only ticket to wealth, etc, but that situation is dumb too.

So, stop putting your lives on the line over a ball game.

In the meantime, I support the idea of a union, because I always support a union, but from a distance this whole thing is ridiculous.

[msongs]

2. and how much do they pay back for their free training and promotion if they hit the NFL? nt

[Omaha Steve]

3. Ndamukong Suh to Donate $2.6 Million to the University of Nebraska

Several Huskers that made it in the pros have given to to University.

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=204930543

The 2009 Associated Press National College Football Player of the Year and winner of the Lombardi, Outland, Bednarik, and the Nagurski football awards - Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh - announced Saturday at the Husker Spring Game that he will donate $2 million to Nebraska Athletics for its Strength and Conditioning Program and an additional $600,000 to the UNL College of Engineering to endow a scholarship.

A crowd of 77,936 cheered this unprecedented gift from an NU student-athlete who has yet to be drafted by the National Football League.




A defensive tackle who completed his collegiate football career, Suh graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Construction Management from the College of Engineering in December 2009. He is projected to be one of the top picks in the 2010 NFL draft after totaling 215 career tackles, including 57 for lost yardage, 24 sacks, six blocked kicks, 15 pass breakups and 38 quarterback hurries. He also scored three touchdowns - two on interceptions and one as a receiver on offense.

Suh is the most decorated defensive player ever to don the Husker uniform and finished fourth in the 2009 Heisman race. He is also the first former Husker player to commit a generous gift to the university in advance of the draft and his NFL career.

FULL story at link.

[Exultant Democracy]

4. Good to see them standing up for their rights. The NCAA is a disgusting institution

The simple fact that if your working you ass off, sweating and bleeding for free so a bunch of old white dudes can get rich you are a slave.

I say let the market decide how much these kids are worth to their respective universities. if college coaches are making $2-5 million a year at some schools, you can bet there is enough meat in the bone to take care of everyone. Most of these schools don't even bother to educate their student athletes.