No one hurt by pay to play in college football
CFB survives first week of player play
The first week of college football is in the books and, surprisingly enough, no players were injured while lining their pockets with endorsement money.
The end of college football as we know it didn’t come either, confounding the ominous warnings repeated so often for so long by so many in positions of power in the sport.
Actually, the biggest takeaway of this nascent season might be this: Despite the fact that some players are getting paid for the first time, college football so far looks a lot like college football has looked for a long time now.
Well, not exactly the same. There was Alabama coach Nick Saban, after all, wearing a leather helmet after his team opener and looking like he wanted to get three yards in a cloud of dust.
Saban can afford the look. He just signed a contract extension that will raise his salary to more than $11 million a year by the time it ends eight years from now.
His new quarterback might be shopping for some new accessories, too. Bryce Young made a spectacular debut as the latest quarterback sensation for the Crimson Tide, throwing for 344 yards and four touchdowns in his national coming-out party.
The best part? Young got paid to do it, as part of a series of deals that Saban earlier estimated could end up netting him a million dollars before he ever threw a pass.
That kind of money could conceivably cause problems on teams where second-string tackles and punters aren’t making a dime. There are inequities and issues with how money is made and doled out, and it remains to be seen how the system eventually settles out.
But there’s no reason the star quarterback on a team that generates hundreds of millions a year shouldn’t get some of the action himself. No reason why other players shouldn’t get more than just room and board and pizza money when assistant coaches are making $2 million a year and athletic directors are bringing in the same.
Young’s performance in his first college game will probably get him even more in his NIL deals, as well it should. His coach gets paid.