http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-fo...rs-nfl-future-earnings-money-suspension-nflpa
They’ve tried it all, and nothing has worked. Conditioning, suspension, rehabilitation. Even outright dismissal.
Yet here we are, heading into a new era of college football with a brand new postseason, and the same old problems exist: players can’t seem to control themselves behaviorally off the field — no matter the consequences.
“Because,” one Power 5 coach told Sporting News, “we can’t reach them where it matters most.”
That place, everyone, is the NFL.
If this were a relationship, it would have been dissolved long ago. College football gives everything to the NFL in every way, shape and form. The NFL gives nothing in return.
Now it’s time for the NFL, which for decades has thrived with the backdrop of a free minor league system that recruits, trains, teaches and ministers to young men before they step foot into the multi-billion dollar business, to give back.
That means giving back the only way they can: controlling the flow of future money.
You want college football cleaned up? You want players who get second, third and fourth chances to finally see the game really is about both football and an education and learning about living and surviving and growing on your own? You want this seemingly endless string of player arrests and violence against women to end?
Hit the players where it matters most: future earnings.
The NFL can make this very simple and succinct. Any college player interested in employment in the league must pass a background check, and if they have a history of arrests or off-field issues, they immediately are moved into a — here’s the key — significantly lower earning bracket for the first four years of their employment.
How significant? Well below league minimum, or about $50,000-$75,000 a year.
Take a guess what the average league lifespan is for a player: four years.
“You have to understand, it’s more than just suspending a player and saying you’re going to miss X number of games for what you did,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban. “You have to change the behavior; you have to change the way the player thinks and acts.”
What better way than by taking away his ability to earn?
This drastic yet necessary turn takes the onus off schools and the presidents of those schools to police behavior, the same people who have proven over and over that they have too much invested in players to make decisions that could impact those investments.
How in the world can a multi-billion corporation argue against that?
You don’t punch someone in the head, and a year later, get picked in the second round of the draft and make significant money.
You don’t slap a woman, and a year later, get picked in the second round of the draft and make significant money.
It’s not like we’re breaking ground with this idea. Players will find in the real world, where you don’t get paid to play a game, employers don’t look too favorably on those with criminal records. And if they do, it certainly isn’t for much more than an entry-level job with minimum pay — until the employee proves to be worthy of more.
This is the way the world works. The sooner players understand and grasp this concept, the better for all involved.
So I asked another Power 5 coach what would happen if players knew, from the moment they stepped on a college campus, that the NFL was monitoring their behavior and their ability to earn will dramatically decrease if they have problems in college.
“You’ll still have knuckleheads,” he said. “But you’ll have a lot less.”
If money truly is power, behavior change among players in college football is a simple declaration away.
And it begins with the NFL.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a thousand more times: if you’re a coach, and your job — your ability to earn and provide for your family — depends on winning games, are you really going to suspend a star player for poor behavior?
If you’re a president of a university and your ability to fundraise for all of those important university projects that aren’t connected to football but are directly impacted by the revenue football produces, are you really going to micromanage a coach and tell him who should and shouldn’t be playing? Or are you going to let him sink or swim with his own decisions, knowing full well if he fails, you can simply hire the next hot coach in the pipeline?
“No one wants to look at this for what it is,” said another Power 5 conference coach. “It’s a vicious cycle.”
But it’s also a cycle that changes immediately if the NFL gets involved. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops once told me the NFL is the top priority for a majority of players the Sooners recruit.
“The first question is, how can you prepare me for the NFL?” Stoops said. “The next is, how quickly can I get there?”
And that’s how this all comes together, how the NFL can finally pay back college football for decades of free development.
The first logical hurdle would be the NFL Players Association, which would be against anything that limits earning ability. But in the long run, it benefits both the NFL and the NFLPA to have players who understand right from wrong; who comprehend that every decision has consequences.
You better believe those simple ideals translate to the field every single play, and to every hour of every day away from the field. A better player on the field, a better human being off it.
They’ve tried it all, and nothing has worked. Conditioning, suspension, rehabilitation. Even outright dismissal.
Yet here we are, heading into a new era of college football with a brand new postseason, and the same old problems exist: players can’t seem to control themselves behaviorally off the field — no matter the consequences.
“Because,” one Power 5 coach told Sporting News, “we can’t reach them where it matters most.”
That place, everyone, is the NFL.
If this were a relationship, it would have been dissolved long ago. College football gives everything to the NFL in every way, shape and form. The NFL gives nothing in return.
Now it’s time for the NFL, which for decades has thrived with the backdrop of a free minor league system that recruits, trains, teaches and ministers to young men before they step foot into the multi-billion dollar business, to give back.
That means giving back the only way they can: controlling the flow of future money.
You want college football cleaned up? You want players who get second, third and fourth chances to finally see the game really is about both football and an education and learning about living and surviving and growing on your own? You want this seemingly endless string of player arrests and violence against women to end?
Hit the players where it matters most: future earnings.
The NFL can make this very simple and succinct. Any college player interested in employment in the league must pass a background check, and if they have a history of arrests or off-field issues, they immediately are moved into a — here’s the key — significantly lower earning bracket for the first four years of their employment.
How significant? Well below league minimum, or about $50,000-$75,000 a year.
Take a guess what the average league lifespan is for a player: four years.
“You have to understand, it’s more than just suspending a player and saying you’re going to miss X number of games for what you did,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban. “You have to change the behavior; you have to change the way the player thinks and acts.”
What better way than by taking away his ability to earn?
This drastic yet necessary turn takes the onus off schools and the presidents of those schools to police behavior, the same people who have proven over and over that they have too much invested in players to make decisions that could impact those investments.
How in the world can a multi-billion corporation argue against that?
You don’t punch someone in the head, and a year later, get picked in the second round of the draft and make significant money.
You don’t slap a woman, and a year later, get picked in the second round of the draft and make significant money.
It’s not like we’re breaking ground with this idea. Players will find in the real world, where you don’t get paid to play a game, employers don’t look too favorably on those with criminal records. And if they do, it certainly isn’t for much more than an entry-level job with minimum pay — until the employee proves to be worthy of more.
This is the way the world works. The sooner players understand and grasp this concept, the better for all involved.
So I asked another Power 5 coach what would happen if players knew, from the moment they stepped on a college campus, that the NFL was monitoring their behavior and their ability to earn will dramatically decrease if they have problems in college.
“You’ll still have knuckleheads,” he said. “But you’ll have a lot less.”
If money truly is power, behavior change among players in college football is a simple declaration away.
And it begins with the NFL.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a thousand more times: if you’re a coach, and your job — your ability to earn and provide for your family — depends on winning games, are you really going to suspend a star player for poor behavior?
If you’re a president of a university and your ability to fundraise for all of those important university projects that aren’t connected to football but are directly impacted by the revenue football produces, are you really going to micromanage a coach and tell him who should and shouldn’t be playing? Or are you going to let him sink or swim with his own decisions, knowing full well if he fails, you can simply hire the next hot coach in the pipeline?
“No one wants to look at this for what it is,” said another Power 5 conference coach. “It’s a vicious cycle.”
But it’s also a cycle that changes immediately if the NFL gets involved. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops once told me the NFL is the top priority for a majority of players the Sooners recruit.
“The first question is, how can you prepare me for the NFL?” Stoops said. “The next is, how quickly can I get there?”
And that’s how this all comes together, how the NFL can finally pay back college football for decades of free development.
The first logical hurdle would be the NFL Players Association, which would be against anything that limits earning ability. But in the long run, it benefits both the NFL and the NFLPA to have players who understand right from wrong; who comprehend that every decision has consequences.
You better believe those simple ideals translate to the field every single play, and to every hour of every day away from the field. A better player on the field, a better human being off it.
He does such a great job with these. But he might have gone a little to far with this one. Not sure if this is realistic enough. 
." Then I opened that link like 
