US PRESSWIRE

Think the idea of paying Matt Barkley and Robert Woods seems crazy? I’ve got three billion reasons why it’s not.

The pay-for play movement in college football has been slowly gaining steam in recent years, and South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier is one of the biggest coaches to throw his hat into the ring in support of the idea. So have Alabama’s Nick Saban, and LSU’s Les Miles.

Last May, Pac 12 commissioner Larry Scott inked a 12-year $3 billion TV pact, with Fox and ESPN, to broadcast his conference’s football and basketball games. The pact will net each school between $30-$40 million dollars annually.

That’s not exactly chump change.

The Pac 12 isn’t alone. The SEC, ACC, and the Big 12, have also reeled in big money television contracts worth $205 million per year, $155 million per year, and $220 million per year, prospectively. This is just the tip of the iceberg. These insane amounts of money don’t even include the millions of dollars that is made in advertising, memorabilia, concessions, and ticket sales.

Mark Emmert, the almighty overseer of college athletics, no doubt cringes every time the subject of paying college athletes is brought up. He has said on several occasions, giving players a cut of the proverbial pie would wipe out the amateurism of the game. Either Emmert is naïve enough to think he can keep pulling the wool over fans eyes, or he is in denial. The day that big money deals were first introduced into the industry, was the moment the focus of the NCAA shifted towards the bottom line, and away from the well-being of the student athlete. If coaches, commissioners, and presidents can benefit from the athletic prowess of these kids, the players themselves should also be allowed to do so because they are the reason colleges receive these deals in the first place.

Opponents will argue that college athletes are more than compensated in the form of a full-ride scholarship, but that isn’t entirely true. While most of their school expenses are paid for (i.e. books, tuition, room and board), those scholarships do not include daily living expenses such as food, clothing, and any other necessities which on average cost an additional $3,000 per year. According to NCAA rules, college football players are prohibited from getting a part-time job, nor can they receive any type of financial help from anybody outside of family members. It begs the question: how do they expect less fortunate students to live?

A few years ago, Emmert made a half-hearted attempt to ease some of the financial burden for players, when he attempted to get conference commissioners to approve a stipend of $2,000 a year for athletes on scholarship. Not surprisingly, it was voted down because it was supposedly unaffordable. At a time when revenues were at an all-time high, THAT excuse is hard to believe.

Since the power hungry, greed driven, talking heads within the NCAA won’t cough up some money to help the athletes whom they are supposed to serve and protect, then maybe it’s time to do away with the old out-dated bylaws that keep them from earning additional income. If Barkley, Woods, or any other athlete, wanting to sell his autograph or memorabilia for a profit, or a free car, let them.

Either that, or give them a piece of that pie the colleges find so lucrative.

Apr 5, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans coach Lane Kiffin at spring practice at Howard Jones Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

He’s tall, lanky, and has a cannon for an arm. His personal coach, the renowned quarterback guru Steve Clarkson, has compared him to all-time great signal callers Brett Favre and Fran Tarkenton.

Who is this, you ask? If you guessed USC’s Heisman hopeful Matt Barkley, or some highly recruited high school football star, try again. It’s eighth grader Tate Martell, who just last week gave his verbal commitment to play quarterback for the University of Washington in the fall of 2017.

For a teenager, who is just hitting puberty and not that far removed from attending his first junior high dance, accepting an invitation to suit up for a top college football program, is not at all surprising anymore. The Trojans were the first program to kick off the mini trend by offering a scholarship to 13 year-old quarterback David Sills in 2010, and merely a day later, LSU did the same to 14 year-old Dylan Moses.

On the surface, these commitments mean very little on both sides. Teenagers change their mind as often as their underwear, just about everyday. There is no guarantee that they will feel the same way about these schools tomorrow, next week, or even a few years from now. Heck, there’s even the possibility that these youngsters will end up choosing a different sport all together. From the coaching aspect, who knows if the head coach will still be at their current school, or even running the same offense when the official commitment day comes. There are so many variables involved, and a lot can change seemingly overnight.

However, a deeper look at this issue raises a huge question: how young is too young?

The minute kids, like Sills, Martell, and Moses, accept that offer, the spotlight shines brighter by the day. First, there is the initial national attention that comes with it. Then, the mention of their name on websites like ESPN, Max Preps, and Rivals.com. Word quickly spreads through hometowns and the surrounding areas. The hype quickly builds. Suddenly, everybody wants to come see the latest prodigy and witness his ascent to greatness. Every single move on the football field is dissected with a fine tooth comb.

On top of that, you have these personal coaches like Clarkson, who fuel the hype machine. Comparing Martell to Hall of Fame quarterbacks, who have set records and won super bowls, is utterly ridiculous and unfathomable. Maybe his skill set is off the charts for someone his age, but he hasn’t even stepped foot on a high school or college football field yet. At best, he is a minimum of six years away from reaching the pros. Even that has to be considered a long shot at this point. So many things have to go just right in order for him to reach that highest level.

I am in no way suggesting that Clarkson isn’t a fantastic coach. He’s worked with Barkley, Jimmy Claussen, and Ben Rothlesberger, amongst others. His track record speaks for itself; but that’s a tremendous amount of pressure to be putting on the shoulders of a child that age. There have been countless athletes at the high school, college, and NFL levels who haven’t been able to deal with that kind of continuous scrutiny. How can we expect seventh and eighth graders to?

Only time will tell how the futures of these phenoms will play out. A few might be able to deal with the demands that are placed upon them, even go on to have successful football careers, but most will fall short of these unrealistic expectations.

The culture of college football recruiting is relentless and daunting. It’s one thing to pursue high school players; for the most part, they are more mature and better equipped to handle all the twists and turns that happen throughout the process. When it comes to middle school athletes though, that is where we have to draw the line.

It’s simply pushing too hard, too fast.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

It’s not surprising that Kiffin’s push to secure Redd has been a hot topic of conversation in recent days. If the coach does so much as sneeze, it usually garners national attention. What is difficult to wrap my head around is the amount of criticism he is taking for it.

The notion that he is unfairly taking advantage of the situation doesn’t have a leg to stand on. How is it not fair? Any college coach in the country can go after Redd provided they notify Penn State of their intentions to do so. It’s not as if Kiffin is the only one who can speak with him.

Those who complain that it’s another example of the rich getting richer, all you have to do is take a quick glance at the running back depth chart to see that the Trojans are anything but loaded in the backfield. Curtis McNeal, who ran for 1005 yards and 6 TD’s a year ago, is a solid number one back. However, once you get beyond him, four of the remaining six backs on the roster have yet to carry the ball in a college game. The addition of Redd (1241 yards, seven TD’s in 2011) would undoubtedly fill the teams’ most pressing need.

Some head coaches, including Penn State’s Bill O’Brien, have indicated that if the situations were reversed and they were in USC’s position, they would not recruit another school’s players. I don’t believe that for one second. You can’t go more than a day or two anymore without hearing about the latest recruiting violations at a major college university. Coaches are always looking for an edge, a loophole, any advantage possible in order to get the top talent on their campus, even in some cases if it means using illegal tactics to do so. Who’s to say if given the chance to luck talented players away from another university legally, as is the case in this instance, they wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to do so?

Kiffin is always going to be a lightning rod for criticism, his every moved analyzed under a microscope. Skeptics will emphasize the negatives and ignore the one thing that matters most. He’s doing what other coach in his position would do; his job. For Trojan fans everywhere that means one thing: continued success.