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High school FB players going pro?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Mark2010, Sep 26, 2013.

  1. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Story from NBCsports.com

    Brings up some interesting possibilities of pro leagues developing their own farm system like baseball and hockey have.


    The call to pay college football players above and beyond what’s involved with a scholarship has been growing louder and louder, with some members of Georgia and Georgia Tech and others staging an on-field “protest” this past Saturday.

    Not surprisingly, Jim Delany is very staunchly against any type of pay-for-play model for student-athletes. Somewhat surprisingly, he’s very much for another controversial avenue for players.

    Speaking to ESPN.com Wednesday, the Big Ten commissioner appeared to be pushing the idea that football players, as well as those involved in basketball, be allowed to go straight from high school to the professional ranks. Currently, football players have to be three years removed from their high school graduating class before the NFL allows them to enter the draft, one year before the NBA allows the same.


    “Maybe in football and basketball, it would work better if more kids had a chance to go directly into the professional ranks,” Delany said. “If they’re not comfortable and want to monetize, let the minor leagues flourish. Train at IMG, get agents to invest in your body, get agents to invest in your likeness and establish it on your own. But don’t come here and say, ‘We want to be paid $25,000 or $50,000.’ Go to the D-League and get it, go to the NBA and get it, go to the NFL and get it. Don’t ask us what we’ve been doing.

    “If an athlete wants to professionalize themselves, professionalize themselves. We’ve been training kids for professional sports. I argue it’s the color, I argue it’s the institution. If you think it’s about you, then talk to John Havlicek about that, you’ve got to talk to Michael Jordan about that. These brands have been built over 100 years.”

    Of course, Delany — or everyone as a whole in college sports for that matter — promoting such a tack would be a moot point without the cooperation of the NFL and/or the NBA. Delany, who’s been at the forefront of the push for significant structural changes in collegiate athletics, says the NCAA and its members need to work more closely with

    It’s unclear how deep Delany’s tongue was in his cheek when making any of these “recommendations.”


    “You don’t have to play for the Redskins or the Bears at 17, but you could develop IMG,” Delany said. “My gosh, there are lots of trainers out there. There are quarterback coaches teaching passing skills, guys lifting weights, guys training and running. They can get as strong and as fast in that environment as they can in this environment. Plus, they don’t have to go to school. Plus, they can sell their likeness and do whatever they want to do. We don’t want to do that. What we want to do is do what we’ve been doing for 100 years. …

    “I think we ought to work awful hard with the NFL and the NBA to create an opportunity for those folks. We have it in baseball, we have it in golf, works pretty good, we have it in golf, we have it in hockey. Why don’t we have it in football, basketball? Why is it our job to be minor leagues for professional sports?”

    To be honest, it’s hard to tell whether Delany is offering up a serious solution to the pay-for-play issue or if he’s merely throwing a sarcastic hissy fit like he did when threatening the Big Ten would drop sports if the O’Bannon lawsuit were to be successful.

    Either way, it’s good fodder from a decidedly unexpected source on an issue that simply is not going away.
     
  2. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    NFL won't want to invest in a minor league because it won't be cost efficient. They won't want to be paying players for three years and risk them getting hurt when they're already getting these players for free.

    Not to mention, but it also still doesn't address the vast amount of money in big-time college sports, and how the next level of stars that are going to be created because the minor leaguers aren't there won't be wanting their fair share.
     
  3. blkbamabelle

    blkbamabelle New Member

    Delany wants an even playing field so the the Big Ten can compete with the likes of the SEC, Big 12, ACC. If the best HS athletes in America like a Clowney were to go pro instead of go to college, then what you are left with are a bunch of two and three star recruits competing against other two and three star recruits. Most of the top players in the college aren't in the Big Ten and it shows every year when they play against other top conferences in bowl games. So how do you solve that program? let immature 17 and 18 yr olds go pro to even up the playing field in college.
     
  4. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    They go pro at that age in baseball, hockey, tennis, golf, and, yes, basketball. Why shouldn't they be able to go pro in football?

    And pro includes minor leagues, too.
     
  5. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Most 17 /18 year olds would not be prepared to play in the NFL let alone college. I've reads that updwards of 80 % of college freshman are redshirted. Even Johnny TD was redshirted.

    I think Delaney was using the blue font when speaking.

    As far as paying college players what I would like to see is a model where funds are put in a trust that player would receive upon graduation. No diploma / no money.
     
  6. trifectarich

    trifectarich Well-Known Member

    I'm not holding my breath for the day when the NFL ponies up to pay for its own minor league system and we're able to eliminate the fraud of the "student"-athlete.
     
  7. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    NFL Europe was in a sense a minor league system and look how that worked out.
     
  8. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    It will never happen unless the NFL was 100 percent behind it.

    So, it will never happen.
     
  9. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    What, you don't think the NFL will want to spend tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions, of dollars a year running this show and adding thousands of players to its potential health liability? Why not?
     
  10. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    I don't think most 17 and 18-year-olds are ready for the physical demands that an extended pro schedule requires in a sport like football.

    from a fan and financial standpoint, I don't know if it could work. Most successful minor leagues are not in areas where there are major NCAA programs. People attend and watch college sports for the sake of the team (school) name, whether or not they can name a single player on the roster. I don't know if that will happen with the minor leagues.

    And I don't think there are enough studs in waiting who will pass on a full-ride scholarship to take a flyer on a minor league in hopes that maybe someday they'll work their way up to the big leagues.
     
  11. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    What? So you mean if the colleges stand up to the pressure and resolve never to pay their players, there won't be a massive revolt?

    I thought that was a done deal.
     
  12. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Where are they (in large numbers) going to go? There just aren't enough players who would command anything. Don't wanna play for free? Fine, who's next on the depth chart. Son, go turn in your uniform and I'll check you at McDonald's day after tomorrow.
     
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