AJ McTurdbugle is in favor of this idea.
Of course he is.
I think it's one of the worst ideas I've ever heard.
Want to fix it? Do two things.
1) Open the draft up to any player. Let them see where they are drafted and if they like it, go. If not, stay. Wouldn't that be better for Tre? He's a first or second round pick and he says "thanks, but I need to go." He drops to the fifth or sixth round and he gets the opportunity to say "wow, that's not what I expected. Let me stay in school and work on getting stronger and better. " How many seventh rounders really make it in the NFL anyway? The league isn't losing anything because all of those picked in rounds 1-3 are likely to stick. After that it's a crapshoot. Any senior not picked could still give free agency a shot.
2) Give the athletes a percentage of merchandise sales. They can collect their share three years after they leave or a year after they graduate. Every sticker, magnet, dog collar, jersey, Christmas ornament, sweatshirt, hat, keychain, spatula, blanket, golf ball or whatever trinket with an Auburn logo is made just a little more desirable with every yard a Tre Mason gains, every step Chris Davis takes. They should get a share of that since they are largely responsible for creating demand. So every player gets x% of merchandise revenue.
They also deserve without a doubt extra money for anything that specifically portrays them individually. When you buy a jersey with 23 on it, are you really just picking a number at random? When you buy the paintings of the kick return, isn't that Davis there on the canvas? I know a player who is on thousand of Auburn fan's walls in a well known painting. Those paintings sold for hundreds of dollars each. He realized not one single penny from that. Not only that, but the artist wasn't allowed to give him or his mother a free copy of the painting. They had to buy it. That's not right. The school got a hefty licensing fee and multiple copies of the painting. Meanwhile the player who inspired the painting got nothing.
If you take that money and put it in a trust for the players, so that they get a bigger percentage the longer they are in the program it's a win-win-win. Player leaves the program and isn't going to the NFL, he's still got a nice start on life as reward for his effort.
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