Adam Johnson
Ms. Sorcan
Writ 1120
29 November 2015
Imagine working 40 or more hours a week, earning tons of money for
your business, and not receiving any of it. Not just typical work, but hard,
grueling, and sometimes painful work. This is something many college
athletes have to deal with. The NCAA forbids paying college athletes
because they say “student-athletes are not employees, under the law, and
that they should not be treated as employees either by the law or by the
schools they attend”(Cooper). Now I know what most peoples first thought is;
“well they are getting their schooling paid for, which is more than enough
payment.” To an extent this is true, but what about the ones who come from
poor families, ones that can’t get a job and don’t have any money to cover the
necessary expenses of college? I know first hand what this can be like. Our
schedule is very demanding, and along with school, there is no time for a job.
College gets very expensive, and with no money coming in, it is difficult to
cover all the necessary costs of attending school. Athletes put in a lot of
work, and should get paid for what they are doing.
It is very difficult having to go to school, then go to practice for as much as
four hours, then either go back to class or start on your homework, and also get
enough sleep. Along with that you have to try to fit in at least three meals, usually
more as an athlete, and all the other responsibilities that come along with being a
college student. As Robert McCormick, a law professor at Michigan State University,
stated, “There are more demands put on these young men than any employee of the
university”(Cooper). This is a very true statement, considering the hours and work
many athletes have to put in. Not only are they putting in all these hours during the
week, but even more hours on the weekend. For hockey, home games we are usually
at the rink for seven or more hours a day. Away games are the same schedule, except
traveling can be a big part of the week. Leaving as early Wednesday makes it
difficult to keep up on school after missing three days. In an interview with the
documentary of Schooled: The Price of College Sports produced in 2013, Arian Foster,
a running back for the Houston Texans, stated “those playing college sports are not
student athletes but rather indenture servants”(Finkel). This statement sums out
