Over the course of the past 10-15 years, one of the most common debates in sports, has been whether college athletes should be paid. For athletes deciding to risk the injuries to play in college, there should be some sort of payoff.

College athletes should be paid or be able to receive endorsements for advertising, because they could get injured and be left with very few options for a sustainable career path.

Imagine an athlete who plays college basketball at Duke. This guy is banking on making it to the NBA, and sports commentators believe that it is well within his reach. His college doesn’t pay him at all, so he devotes almost all of his time to basketball and preparing for the pros. Then in his senior season, he tears his achilles tendon.This injury causes him to miss the rest of his senior season. Teams in the NBA become uninterested, and he doesn’t get drafted primarily because of his injury. He has devoted so much of his time in college to this goal and now it has all fallen apart. What is he supposed to do next?

This case may seem unique, but statistics have shown that around 90% of college athletes suffer from some form of a sports related injury at least one time in their college career.

This situation could have all been avoided in the first place. If the school were to decide to pay college athletes and allowed these players to get endorsements, the players would be much better off for the future. Even if the same thing happens, they have enough money to get by until they know what to do next with their life.

College athletes are also forced to decide whether they want to take the risk of continuing on in their athletic career, or to start an everyday career path. This is a very important decision, because it can change the entire life of a young adult.

They could end up making the wrong decision, and the only thing that determines this is chance.

These young adults shouldn’t be faced with this decision so early in their life. However, endorsements can help these young adults keep playing the sport they love, rather than ending it all because of a risk factor.

The athletes have shown so much loyalty to the school, throughout their career. The schools make so much money from these players and their sports. It seems like the school should reward this loyalty in some way. Why not have this reward be something that benefits the players?

Players do much more than what fans see on game day. They put in a lot of work to create a winning culture. They need to wake up early, go to practices and watch film while also balancing their school work. Being a student-athlete is extremely intense and shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Some people might say school should always come before sports, however some of these athletes are planning on becoming a pro athlete. So for them sports might actually come before school. It is a questionable choice to some, however they are adults and have the liberty to make this decision for themselves.

None of us would accept an 80 hour per week job, that didn’t pay us adequately. It is only fair to the players to pay them sufficiently for the work they do every single day.

If you take some time to really consider these athletes and how they might feel, I think you might change your mind and agree with me and the many people that believe college athletes should be paid.