Last week, NFL star Reggie Bush relinquished the Heisman Trophy, the annual award given to college football's best player, after a scandal revealed that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from agents during his time at the University of Southern California.
Although this had nothing to do with Bush's football accomplishments, Bush broke the NCAA's strict rules. College athletes are not allowed to receive financial benefits or gifts of any kind. The NCAA portrays them as students first and athletes second; true amateurs who play simply for the love of the game and take their studies seriously.
This issue, however, is bigger than Reggie Bush and bigger than sports. The real problem is the culture of college athletics, which affects all college students, whether they are fans or not.
Football programs bring millions upon millions of dollars to their respective universities, allowing schools to fund other programs. The NCAA negotiates billion-dollar television deals with the media and head coaches like Pete Carroll, who oversaw the Bush scandal, are paid millions of dollars per year.
The athletes responsible for building this massive financial arena, though, are not allowed to receive a penny for their efforts. Additionally, professional leagues like the NBA and NFL do not allow them to enter straight from high school, virtually forcing them into the college system.
Meanwhile, greedy agents lurk beyond the sidelines, practically begging talented players like Bush to accept rewards with hopes of signing them when they transition to the professional ranks.
For the NCAA to project the image of a serious student-athlete is laughable. It has looked the other way for years while its athletes receive easy A's and especially easy class schedules, breezing through their studies as long as they breeze into the end zone. It even happens here at UB.
All the while, the dollars keep piling up.
Student-athletes should not be paid. Reggie Bush did not have to take that money. He could have waited until he got to the NFL, where he eventually got his big payday anyway. After all, these universities are providing the athletes with free education, housing and food, fulfilling their every need.
The entire culture needs to be changed, and stars like Bush should not be villianized for getting caught up in the corruption. The NCAA needs to take a hard look at its rules and regulations as well. Certain aspects of the laws could be relaxed.
It shouldn't be a problem for stars like Bush to be allowed to accept certain types of endorsement deals. That would be somewhat analogous to a business student taking a paid internship during the summer as a result of his performance in the classroom.
The NCAA needs to clean up its system before accusing USC, Bush and others of tarnishing its image. Sadly, we're afraid that will never happen.
