Detroit Lions. The Ohio state Buckeyes are worth an estimated $225 million. In 1997, when the Buckeyes earned a Rose Bowl bid, they were paid $15 million for participating in the game, which was sponsored by AT&T. That is not including the money the university profited by sales of tickets, tee shirts, and other souvenirs. Last year, three Baylor University coaches were convicted of wire fraud for filling out tests for star basketball players, to improve their grades. United States District Judge, Walter S. Smith says, "The evidence in this makes it clear that Baylor, like probably the majority of NCAA colleges and universities, is in the business of athletics, at least so far as basketball and football are concerned, to make money." Well if the NCAA is in the business of making money, how are they not going to compensate their workers? The ones who fill the stadiums full of fans, the ones who people yell at when they drop a pass and the ones that people cheer for when they score the game-winning touchdown. The same people who are forced to be content with what they have, because they have no opportunity at this time to get more. Some people may ask why a man who merely coaches a collegiate football team deserved that kind of money but I ask what about those kids that he leads into battle each week. The same kids who risk injury and failure. The same kids who work and run, not only during the season but also during the preseason and off-season. It's about time that they reap the benefits of their work. While student-athletes have no legal way to earn money, often they try to pursue there careers elsewhere. By going over seas or even leaving college early to the pros so they can receive money thus resulting in them missing an education. With giving student-athletes a small salary, such as the $5.40 an hour national minimum wage, more athletes would not have to miss their chance of a college experience. These people are not greedy; they a...
