Coach and player in master-slave relationship
For years, I have been decrying the master-slave relationship between coaches like Nick Saban of Alabama and his football players. I’ve always believed that colleges should pay players.
In this regard, I refer you to commentaries like “Reggie Bush Forfeits Heisman Trophy” on September 16, 2010, and “Salaries of College Coaches Reflect Enduring Master-Slave Relationships” on October 28, 2016.
Colleges use student-athletes to generate millions. They claim to treat these students fairly by covering room, board, and other expenses. But that claim argument is as specious as it is unfair.
In this regard, I refer you to commentaries like “Student-Athletes Make Billions (for Colleges) but Most Graduate Poor … and Dumb” on January 16, 2014, and “Cardale Jones, Ohio’s Superstar QB, Shows Why Colleges Should Pay Student-Athletes,” March 4, 2016.
Saban resents players getting paid
The only surprise is that Saban said this quiet part out loud:
Alabama coach Nick Saban set the college football world abuzz Wednesday night when he told a gathering of business leaders in the state that Texas A&M assembled the top-ranked recruiting class in the country because it ‘bought every player’ with name, image and likeness deals.
Decrying the influence of money in recruiting, Saban said NIL was being used unfairly. At Alabama, he said of its No. 2-ranked class, ‘We didn’t buy one player, all right?’
(ESPN, May 19, 2020)
Perhaps, like his pal George W. Bush, senility is getting the better of him. Whatever the case, this SOB gets paid millions off the free labor of football players. Yet he’s pissed because some players are getting a pittance for their own name, image, and likeness.
But Saban’s comments merely reflect the pride and prejudice of the NCAA’s old plantation system. After all, that system allowed coaches to profit for over 100 years off the indentured servitude of football players.
That’s why Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher endeared himself to so many when he clapped back at Saban as follows:
It’s despicable … taking shots at 17-year-old kids and their families, that they broke state laws, that we bought every player in this group. Go dig into how God did his deal. We’re done. He showed you who he is.
(Yahoo News! May 19, 2022)
Frankly, if God exists, he would guide top recruits to avoid Saban like the plague for the rest of his career. Because even the NIL payments he resents do not reflect the principles of emancipation and quantum meruit (fair payment for services rendered).
Legacy Note: With over 5,600 posts spanning 20 years, I am easily the most prolific blogger on the most eclectic array of topics on the web. That makes The iPINIONS Journal an unparalleled archive of informed political and cultural commentary. Visit the ARCHIVES section in the sidebar or search by topic. You won’t find a more consistent, independent voice on world affairs.