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By Forrest Clay, For TheAfricanAmericanAthlete.com
There times I want to scream at the top of my lungs for listening or reading something that misses the point of
what is being relayed. But I have learned is that everyone is not willing to educate themselves. Some people are just ok
with the headline with no ounce of research, truth, or substance.
This year has been one we shall never forget. We are in a mist of a pandemic that our national leadership does not take seriously. But I am not going to spend much time on the Commander in Thief. Yes, you read it, right. He is a thief because he has stolen the dignity of this country, money from
the less fortunate, and needlessly stole the lives of loved ones all over the country.
That is just one of the reasons people have taken to the streets. People are protesting injustice, not just from police, but all injustices from legal policies, educational systems, corporate greed, and more. People are doing this because they are tired.
The pandemic has forced us to look at ourselves for who we ARE NOT, and for who WE ARE. We are a nation built off free labor, genocide, racism, slavery, and LIES.
Let’s talk about free labor of all college FOOTBALL. I have said it before, and I will say it again, football is now America’s game. Bye-bye baseball, you had your run. Even within the midst of a pandemic, people want their football. I MEAN THEY WANT THEIR FOOTBALL “BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY”! Did I really use Malcolm X in a football rant? Yes, I did. People want football so bad they are willing to watch young men put their health at risk. For what, entertainment?
I get it. I love football. But as much as I love the game, I can’t say I would be able to watch these young men put their lives at greater risk than they already are playing this dangerous game.
We have people dying all over the country, and the world, from Covid and we want young men to possibly sacrifice their lives for our pleasure, and all they get is a tee-shirt, cap, and ring? And, oh, that college degree. Yes, that college degree in the form of a scholarship, right? Or should I say financial aid subsidy offset?
College football is showing you how powerful it is and how economically dependent we are on the game.
So, let’s be real as to why the push for these young men to play is coming so hard.
There is money at stake. However, money is not going into the right hands. The money should be going to the players. All the rah-rah talk about player safety and circumstances is merely talking points with no action.
Pay the players a piece of the billion-dollar pie, and they can change their circumstances. But no, this money grab is about keeping a system intact that thrives off free labor.
These college kids should get more. No kid leaving college after putting that jersey on for that school should come home the way they left four of five years earlier. No kid should have to worry about eating on campus. No kid should have to risk health over the future because a coach wants to win a game.
Everyone is eating off of the athlete at the collegiate level. Everyone, but the actual athletes that fill the stadiums and command lucrative television contracts.
So, why can’t the players eat, too?
The models are out there that will compensate athletes may not be perfect, but they are a starting point.
The powers that be are not so dumb they can’t fix it. They are just numb to change. They know the change that may shift the economic swing in favor of more minorities than whites. Paying the college football player who by numbers is highly favored by African American players can swing the pendulum.
According to the 2019 NCAA Student-Athlete Ethnicity Report, African-American student participation in Division 1 FBS represents 46 percent, compared to 37 percent of White student participation.
They do not want to pay the money to young black men, who at least will leave with a few dollars in their pockets to go with the blood, sweat, and tears they sacrificed, and the injuries many will take home with them.
Whatever the reason. It is time to make a change in college football. “Weunited” a college player lead movement is trying to change the current system by listing a set of demands that are long overdue in revenue sharing and health concerns, and ensuring they are heard and not dismissed.
In other words, the old guard who have had things their way for years, need to listen. Everyone is not vying to go to the National Football League from playing college football. We know only one percent make it to that level.
However, let us not forget about the other 99 percent who will not make the millions at the next level but helped to make college and football coaches millions.
