Dabo Swinney made a statement that, in hindsight, seems ridiculous. It is unbelievable. Photo courtesy of APThe internet is forever. Dabo Swinney, the head football coach at Clemson, said in June 2014 one of most absurd and hypocritical statements in sports history.AdvertisementWe teach our boys, we use football to create opportunities, and we take advantage of the brand, the platform, and the marketing that is available to us. I'm not interested in professionalizing college sports or paying players. Because there is enough entitlement in the world, I'll do something else.Even worse, Swinney would sign a $92 million 10-year deal in April 2019 to continue coaching the unpaid players for whom he had quit his job.Dabo, it's time to get out of your office. Name, image, likeness, and college athletes at Clemson will soon get paid. Thursday is the first day every college athlete can benefit from NIL.The NCAAs board decided Wednesday to stop being hateful and declare that amateurism was dead.The NCAA president Mark Emmert stated that this is a significant day for college athletes as they can now all take advantage of the name, image, and likeness opportunities. We will continue working with Congress to find a solution at a national level that addresses the many state laws in the country. We are unable to provide a permanent solution that provides the detail that student-athletes need in the current legal and legislative environment.AdvertisementEmmert, like Swinney has opposed this since day one. Don't give them credit for being on the right side, as there are already reports of players withdrawing.AdvertisementTwin sisters Hanna Cavinder and Haley Cavinder are basketball players for Fresno State. They already have a contract with Boost Mobile. Dreamfield is co-founded by FSU Quarterbacks McKenzie Milton (FSU) and Miamis DEriq Kings (Miamis DEriq), which will host autograph signings, meet and greets, speaking engagements and other revenue-generating opportunities. Darren Rovell reports that Olivia Dunne, a gymnast at LSU, could make $1 million.In 2018, Nigel Hayes, a former Wisconsin basketball star, told me how he believed the NCAA could address their player compensation problems. He revealed that his 2016-2017 team nearly boycotted a matchup against Syracuse in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. This was aired on ESPN.AdvertisementI would eliminate the term impermissible benefit. These athletes can now accept money from anyone who would like it. A booster can give $5,000 to them because they played a great game. They are allowed to have dinner at a local restaurant. Hayes also said that if they don't, there is no harm.He explained that colleges don't look at this as a way to finance it because they can't say where the money is coming from.AdvertisementHe said that this has nothing to do only with male sports or the top two men's sports being football and basketball. This would be a win-win situation for everyone and work in the same way that capitalism and the market economy work. If you are a person who enjoys your entertainment and feels joy, they will pay you. This is why athletes should be able to make money from their likeness and names.AdvertisementAs Hayes explained, the process of college athletes making money has been simple and obvious for many years. People like Mark Emmert and Dabo Swinney were perfectly content to let a billion-dollar entity make most of its money from the backs unpaid Black athletes.We aren't done yet. A union would be a good idea, as players still deserve and need more. This is a good start. It's not a crime for players to make money, so it was time that Reggie Bush got his trophy back from the Heisman Trust, as well as the Fab Five banners, at the Crisler Centre in Ann Arbor.
