College athletes in the State of California will now be able to receive pay for usage of their image and likeness.
San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman believes that’s a good thing. Moreover, he hopes the new law proves to be the NCAA’s undoing.
“I hope it destroys the NCAA, in general, because I think it’s corrupt, and I think it’s a bunch of people taking advantage of kids and doing it under a mask of fair play,” 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman told NBC Sports Bay Area on Monday.
The new California law, the Fair Pay to Play Act, does not require athletes to be paid a salary. Instead, athletes are to be compensated for use of their image or likeness.
“It’s either going to cripple the NCAA in a way that they start to bend and make it more fair and more of a symbiotic relationship between players and the NCAA, or it’s going to destroy them and will start a whole new way of college athletics in general,” Sherman explained. “I can respect that, too.”
Sherman is more than likely correct, the NCAA will either alter or be abolished by laws like the one recently passed in California.Especially, once other states begin following suit and either adopting similar, or even more far-reaching policies. One thing that’s for sure, is that the NCAA can never be the same again. Given the proven and strong instinct for survival among executives with multi-million dollar contracts, it’s more likely the NCAA will alter to fit the changing times, as opposed to dying on the hill of college amateurism.
For those arguing that free tuition is just compensation for college athletes, Sherman finds that math fuzzy at best.
“If you did a cost analysis of how much each student brings in compared to what they earn in scholarship, one number would be greater than the other,” Sherman said. “The bowl executives get how much? How much does March Madness executives get? Who’s getting all that money? That’s the thing that’s so messed up is most people in the civilized world who are paying attention couldn’t tell you where the money is going.”
One thing that’s clear, in the State of California, at least some of that money will now go to the athletes.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
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