Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett: ‘NCAA is a Scam.’

During one of the many gazillion things said during the Super Bowl media days, the Seattle Seahawks’ Michael Bennett and Richard Sherman both took no time on Thursday to come after the NCAA for what Bennett describes as ‘the biggest scam in America.’

"“These kids put so much on the line. They [the NCAA] say, ‘We give you a free degree.’ That’s like me owning a restaurant and saying, ‘I’ll give you a free burger.’ It makes me so mad and irate. Universities need to do more for the student-[athletes].”"

Richard Sherman brought about the same conjecture when speaking about the time allotted for student athletes to get the same amount of work done as the other students that don’t have to go to practice or travel for football games.

"“Most of these kids are done with class by 3 o’clock and you have the rest of the day to do what you please, you may spend it studying and then you may go have coffee with friends. As a student-athlete, you don’t have that kind of time. You wake up in the morning and have weights. Then you go to class. Then you might get a bite to eat, then you go to meetings and then you have practice. And you have to try to get all your school work done.”"

A lot of this comes about by exactly how much schools make on their student athletes, especially on high profile sports like college football and to a lesser degree, basketball. Many football players have echoed the same sentiment once their college playing days are over and since the new playoff system, coupled with the likes of ESPN ruling over TV money, jersey sales, and overall income, the student athlete is just a small pawn that receives nothing from the bottom line. Richard Sherman, who graduated with honors from Stanford, a school known first for its academics, said that even though that’s Stanford’s reputation, he was reminded that football came 1st.

In the end, maybe Michael Bennett came up with the simplest but most thoughtful conclusion, something the NCAA could look into.

"“I think the NCAA should come up with a plan for college athletes to receive some of the money they bring into the schools. My school, Texas A&M, I think makes $50 million just on jersey sales. So I would say pay $60,000 [to student-athletes] for every year you stay in college. Keep that in a 401(k). After you graduate, hold that money until you are a certain age and then you get the money.”"