There has been a public backlash against the recent NCAA decision allowing players to be paid for their name and likeness before turning professionals, cautioning that it could "destroy" athletes who do not have the proper guidance, saying that money could either be helpful or literally end someone’s career in sports, specially at a young age.
The NCAA said it would allow athletes to sell and profit off their name and likeness in commercials and other business ventures, including, T.V. sports related adds, endorsement contracts, starting in April this year. While the policy is far from a free-for-all—players are not allowed to use the logos or mention the schools or institutions they play for.
Specialists have repeatedly warned that money at a younger age normally brings negative impacts and issues even to professional ballers at the NBA, who are a bit older and who tend to have a full schedule (that is no time for trouble). One physiologist warns saying “we are tired of seeing young adults, at an even older age than NCAA players getting in trouble because of access to money, we need a strong foundation to know if this is indeed a good idea”.
A clear example is former USC running back Reggie Bush as he told Playboy’s magazine Ryan Gajewiski, “They're about to start paying college athletes. This is something that has never been experienced before, and it's going to destroy some people if their foundation is not in the right place..." he then continued:
“It's a nasty world out there, and it's about to get nastier. You're going to really start to see the true colors of a lot of people, and a lot of businesses too. You're going to see people doing some crazy stuff to make money, instead they should focus solely on their careers..."
Streetopia dug into the matter a bit deeper and found countless cases in which athletes had premature access to money in the very early stages of their careers and those cases ended up in catastrophe, about half of these cases are NCAA related and showed that people who got into trouble more often were either wealthy from birth or had some sort of overpaid sponsorship.
Concerns are higher for basketball players, who are more often in the spotlight of fame and money, within the NCAA, accounting for the most popular sport at least in 51% of all counties, according to college boards.
The NBA has also voiced concern, fearing that potential stars could have their careers cut short for getting into trouble, one of their representatives even said on ESPN last Tuesday, “we all know money and youth is very thin ice...”
Due to growing criticism from athletes, and the possibility of this policy being revoked, Streetopia will follow-up on this headline should there be any updates.
