Beyond the bright lights of this year’s college football season lurks a monster that has continued to attack college athletes and universities alike. Once again, NCAA players have been caught receiving improper benefits from National Football League agents. The NCAA has imposed penalties that impact both the athletes and universities. There seems to be no end in sight for this problem.
The player-agent system is fundamentally flawed and needs to be fixed. In order to provide a long-term solution that will end improper benefits, one needs to first understand who is to blame.
Under the current system, this is not the NFL’s fault. The players receiving improper benefits are collegiate athletes and will remain college athletes until national signing day and the NFL draft. It is not the job of the NFL to provide oversight into the management of college football programs and their athletes.
The job of the NFL and the Player’s Association (NFLPA) is to assess the talent and character of these college athletes. However, it is the lure of the NFL and its financial benefits that tempt athletes and agents, and since there are no consequences from the NFL, that temptation isn’t tempered.
This is not a problem of ignorance. NCAA athletes are taught about receiving improper benefits. They understand the punishments if they are caught. Despite these warnings, they still decide to accept benefits.
Some rationalize taking money because they don’t get paid for their play, even though their universities earn millions from their efforts. Even if that justification had merit, they still know their actions are improper.
NCAA universities do not have proper oversight to monitor players’ off-the-field decisions and interactions. This lack of oversight undoubtedly leads to a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that harbors this improper activity.
For agents to be successful they must stay competitive. If some agents are getting away with giving benefits to players, other agents will do the same.
The problem of improper benefits is not isolated to one part of the collegiate-to-professional system. The problem exists throughout the system.† It exists with the athletes themselves, the universities, the agents and even the NFL itself. Therefore, any solution must address all the factors to be effective.
First, the NCAA and NFL need to agree on harsher consequences for the players. This change is already being started. Representatives of the NCAA, NFL, NFLPA and the Coaches Association are considering penalties that will follow the players to the NFL.
These include financial penalties as well as game suspensions for the players during their rookie season. Hopefully these added penalties will sway players away from receiving improper benefits.
Second, the NCAA needs to provide a stronger oversight of collegiate programs. The NCAA should require teams to have an extra staff member whose sole job is to monitor players’ off the field interactions, as well as mentoring them through the agent process. Furthermore, the NCAA should provide the necessary financial adjustments for this to happen. This increased supervision over the players will hopefully decrease improper benefits.
More importantly, it will clear the universities from receiving scholarship suspensions and other punishments if a player is discovered to be receiving benefits.
Lastly, the NFLPA and the NCAA must force mandatory changes to the agent industry. Agents should be required to divert a small percentage of their income to independent groups whose job is to monitor agents. These groups should have access to the financial documents of the agencies to monitor if any improper financial assistance is given. If so, these independent groups should be allowed to impose fines and revoke agents’ licenses.
The current system between players, agents, and the NCAA is fundamentally flawed and needs to fixed. Until then, this monster will still lurk beyond the bright lights of college football stadiums across the country.