One of the larger debate topics that exists in college sports is whether or not athletes should be compensated for their “name, image, and likeness.” The NCAA has given their support to changing the rules on this subject. However, the rules could not be changed until 2021-22 at the earliest. The topic has come up once again in debate recently.
In an interview with Playboy, former USC running back and current FOX College Football analysts Reggie Bush gave these comments on what the new rules could do for athletes today when he was asked about wanting to be a coach someday:
“Guidance is the one thing that young athletes coming through the college system miss on so much. I missed on it. 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.”
Bush took some issue with ESPN talking about the situation on Monday and tweeted that ESPN should take down the article for taking his quotes out of context. However, Bush would not talk to ESPN further in another tweet that was later deleted, but its currently on Awful Announcing.
On Tuesday, Get Up weighed in on the subject as Mike Greenberg talked with Laura Rutledge, Paul Finebaum, and Jalen Rose to talk about the affect the new rules could have on players. Rose talked about the foundation quote to begin the conversation as a former high-profile collegiate athlete.
“The athlete should major in sports while they are in college. Learn public relations, learn how to be a trainer/doctors, learn the jobs within sports. If the professional sport isn’t for you, you can still get a job in that profession. So many times, when athletes are done with college, they can’t get a job in sports. That dynamic needs to change.”
Of course, some might argue that Bush should not be the one giving these comments after he chose to give up his 2005 Heisman Trophy for receiving benefits while at USC. Finebaum is one of those people who backs that argument.
“College football has many filters. I don’t mean to shoot the messenger here. You can’t forget he [Bush] disgraced his school, he had a Heisman taken away from him. I’d rather go to Tom Brady for a golf lesson than to Reggie Bush for advice on what to do in college. I think he’s trying to cover up the mistakes he made without taking responsibility.”
Rose disagreed with this point saying that “experience is the best teacher.” He would add that it’s important that athletes should learn how to use their money, saying young people should not be taking “ballet, basket weaving, teach them how to manage their money and their situation. It’s the score of the game and the game of life.”
Give credit to ESPN for not going after Bush after Bush tweeted at them to retract the story, but also using his point to talk about a larger issue in the world of college sports.
