College football players getting paid?

[DeltAlum]

College athletes who are on a scholarship ARE being paid. Don't believe me? Ask the IRS. Scholarships are taxable.

It is also interesting to me that the "highly selective" schools, that give scholarships on a "need only" basis MUST give full athletic scholarships (which are clearly merit based) to retain Division 1 standing. That's an NCAA rule.

And to parrot what a lot of others have said above, "student" athletes at the big sports powers seem to do very well, thank you. Look at what they drive and where they live. That's not the case at smaller, less prestigious program, by the way.

And, frankly, a fair number of these students (clearly not all of them) wouldn't be in college at all if they weren't physically gifted. They either couldn't afford it, or wouldn't meet the entrance requirements.

Finally, I think that paying athletes would widen the gap between the "big time" programs and the rest of the colleges. Smaller schools (and conferences) without the reputation of the elite programs would have a much harder time recruiting and paying if they weren't in the same income category of a Nebraska, Ohio State, etc. Unless, of course, the NCAA or someone sets an absolute salary so that Miami of Ohio could compete with Miami of Florida.

Even though the term is nearly a joke these days (see NHL and NBA players on Olympic teams), I would much prefer to see amateur atletics stay that way.