Many Rollins students have work-studies and other miscellaneous jobs around campus. We take time out of our hectic schedules to perform our assigned tasks and we get paid to do so. Some of us enjoy our jobs more than others, but that is just life, right?
The recent Reggie Bush Heisman Trophy scandal got me thinking: “I get paid to work at The Sandspur, and many of my friends get their tuitions paid by Rollins to play on teams here, so did Reggie really do anything morally wrong?”
In case you have been trapped in a cave for the past week, Kim Kardashian’s famous ex-boyfriend of the New Orleans Saints was asked to return his coveted Heisman Trophy after reports of him “receiving excess benefits” from The University of Southern California’s Trojan football team in 2005. Getting the attention of many pretty female fans at school and the admiration of your classmates is allowed in the NCAA, however getting a Suburban SUV from your school is not. In black and white, Reggie did break the rules, but that is about where the personal wrongdoing ends in my book.
If someone offered you a new car in return for playing your favorite sport you would have to be crazy not to take it – it is basic human intuition. Fellow football enthusiast and ex-player Ali Hakim 14’ disagrees with the NCAA’s stance and says, “I think that he still deserves the award. He is an incredible athlete and he did not cheat to win it.”
This brings me to my next tiff with this whole predicament; while monetary and material gains may have made Reggie happier and richer, there is no way they could have had any impact on his abilities to play football.
The Heisman stands for extraordinary college football skill, if it stood great athleticism and having the record of saint, then many would agree that former Heisman recipient OJ Simpson should return his as well.
Last year the NCAA reportedly paid its top 14 executives a combined six million dollars extra for compensation. Just last year the NCAA made 700 million dollars in revenue and 660 million the year before. Much of that revenue is do in part to merchandise and ticket sales that would hold no value if it were not for star players, like Bush. If CEOs are raking in the big bucks, than should not their primary sources of income be getting at least a little piece of the pie?
I do not think this little incident will damage Reggie Bush’s popularity whatsoever. His fans appreciate his phenomenal athletic talent regardless of some extra USC incentives here and there.
The real culprits are the people at USC who began this whole charade. I am confident in saying that there are many collegiate athletes who are gett ing more than just a Suburban for their talents right about now.
The rich get richer, and, where there is money to be made, no one ever plays by the rules.
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