Show Me The Money: Diego Pavia Sues The NCAA
At the end of the college basketball movie Blue Chips, head coach Pete Bell tells a room full of media, "This isn't about education. It's not about winning, and it sure as hell aint about basketball. It's about money. Just godddamn money!"
NCAA athletes deserve to be paid more than just a scholarship. Not all of them, just the ones who generate revenue on their respective fields/courts. The NIL deal was a good thing, in a vacuum. If a local or national business wants to pay an athlete to endorse their brand or product, that's OK. If the sponsorship is contingent on the player attending and playing for the local school, there's nothing wrong with that.
The world doesn't exist in a vacuum though, and athletes are humans like the rest of the non-athletic world. They are consumed with gratification and greed. This is evident in the recent actions taken by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia. He has chosen to sue the NCAA for extra eligibility.
The NCAA is the most corrupt organization in America, so them getting sued isn't a bad thing. Players petition college sports for extra eligibility all the time as well, so Pavia is not the first person to want more time to play college athletics. The evil and greedy motivation behind his actions is what make them sad.
Pavia does not want more time because he'd like make up for an injury he suffered, or get back a year that Covid-19 stole from him. He is suing the NCAA because he wants more time to make money from NIL deals. He finds it unfair that the two years he spent at a junior college, getting his general studies done, and playing JUCO football, shouldn't count as time in college playing football.
Pavia, who is not a highly touted NFL prospect, thinks the NCAA should let playing college football be a career. The Van Wilder's of the world agree with him, and college football players across the land fantasize about playing for a university until they are 50 or 60 years old. We should support players utilizing the system to get a portion of the money they generate. We should not allow players like Pavia to abuse the system for their own greed and selfishness.