Why all college football athletes should be getting paid

Ryan Sowa, Staff Writer|April 27, 2023

Photo by Tommy Gilligan

Not every college football athlete is getting paid for their hard work and commitment to their team. Every college football athlete should be getting paid because not all make it to the NFL. The ones that don’t get left behind in a debt life struggle.
 
College football players don’t have enough time for a part-time job. Their normal school day because football takes up so much of their daily time. “College student-athletes spend on average six hours on schoolwork, 5.7 hours on athletic events, 3.3 hours on social life and roughly seven hours sleeping, according to the NCAA. College athletes only have about two hours remaining in a single day for homework, eating and part-time work,” from the article, Is The Workload Too Much For Student-Athletes? by Gabby Alfveby, Reporter. Some may argue that college football players do have enough time in their schedule. They need to make it work to fit in a part-time job along with school. These athletes put themselves through so much mental and physical stress. Mental during school and physical during practice. They need time to decompress at the end of the day to do it all over again.
 
Most college football athletes don’t work during their college years. They are already so occupied and don’t have the time for a part-time job. The players that don’t end up making it to the NFL get left behind and are stuck in a life with debt and no job. College football athletes need to get paid to play for this reason. “Considering the massive revenue generated for colleges because of the student athletes, it only makes sense to pay them for their time, commitment, and energy,” from an article posted on Helpful.Professor.Com, by Chris Drew, Reporter. Others might say that college football athletes should have a backup plan on their own. That they don’t need help. They are taking the risk on their knowledge that they might not make it to the NFL. While this is true we should still want to support and help these players as much as possible. Help them to achieve their dreams so that they can succeed in life at what they love to do and find happiness.
 
All college football athletes should be getting paid for the attention they bring to the schools they play for. As well as all the fans they bring to the games and the merchandise they sell with their numbers and name on them. “College athletes should be paid because they bring a substantial amount of money into their colleges, boost admission rates, put in full-time hours, and do not have the time to get a full-time job on top of their sport,” from an article posted on Helpful.Professor.Com, by Chris Drew, Reporter. Some people might argue that college football athletes already get a lot of benefits. While it’s true that college football athletes do get some benefits like tutoring and food. It is also true that they bring in lots of attention and people to games. They should be getting rewarded for that.
 
Over half of young adults believe college football athletes should be getting paid. For the time and effort they put into their program at their school. “70% of 18-to-29-year-olds are in favor, but that number drops dramatically the older respondents get, with just 29% of the 60+ demo in favor,” from a story posted on AXOIS, written by Jeff Tracy, a reporter. Some people of the opposite opinion would argue that they don’t need money benefits. They should focus on that themselves. Although with a high 70% of young adults supporting paying college football athletes. We should start doing so.
 
College football athletes would benefit a lot from getting paid to play. It wouldn’t only impact the player but also the people that are close in the player’s life. Like family and loved ones who can help support each other. They would be getting paid for all their hours and hard work. Along with their dedication to the program of the school they are playing for. It would help benefit all.