As the NFL continues to look for ways to help address the problem of college players getting paid by agents, Charley Casserly of CBS reports that one step could involve fining players who ultimately are found to have violated NCAA rules in this regard.
We’ve argued that the NFL should suspend the players who took money from agents. More importantly, the league should compel players to cooperate with NCAA investigations that commence after the players have left school, at which time the NCAA no longer has the ability to force them to talk.
If such a system were in place, the five-year Reggie Bush may have taken only five months to complete.
Though only a small percentage of college football players ever get to the NFL, plenty of them think they’re destined to play on Sundays. Thus, the approach could deter some college players from taking money.
Then again, 20-year-old kids who expect to eventually have millions may not blink at the idea of peeling a few thousand off for the NFL at some undefined point in the future. That’s why the approach needs to include the threat of losing not only money but also playing time.