Wolf
100% Texan
More than 300 major college football and mens basketball players are telling the NCAA and college presidents they want a cut of ever-increasing TV sports revenue to fatten scholarships and cover all the costs of getting a degree, with athletes picking up still more grant money when they graduate.
The players from Arizona, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Purdue and UCLA have signed a petition asking the NCAA to realize its mission to educate and protect us with integrity. The National College Players Association, an athletes advocacy group, provided The Associated Press with copies of the document for release Monday. Players started sending the petition to the NCAA last week.
The document urges the NCAA and college presidents to set aside an unspecified amount of money from what it estimates is $775 million in recently acquired TV revenues in an educational lock box for football and mens basketball players. Players could tap those funds to help cover educational costs if they exhaust their athletic eligibility before they graduate. And they could receive whats left of the money allocated to them with no strings attached upon graduatinga step that would undoubtedly be seen by some as professionalizing college sports.
The issue of whether to pay college athletes has been getting increased attention at a time when athletic programs from Miami to Ohio State have endured a series of scandals involving impermissible benefits to players. At the same time, athletic conferences have made lucrative, new television deals.
The NCAA opposes paying athletes, but players whose talents enable colleges and coaches to reap millions have been largely silent in the debate until now.
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_ylt=ApDj7PYvMvpuRlE8C8C4Kg05nYcB?slug=ap-ncaa-athletesrights