With the evolution of name, image and likeness, college athletes across the nation are getting paid for their popularity within their respective sport.

While I believe NIL is a good thing, this isn’t something smaller schools like Eastern have. Over situations athletes at Eastern have no control over, there aren’t a lot of opportunities for these athletes to get NIL deals.

According to ESPN’s Dan Murphy and Pete Thamel, on May 23, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Power Five conferences agreed to have college athletes get directly paid from their universities. In the future, other schools can opt into this to make sure their athletes get paid.

This decision has been a big conversation and something I have a strong opinion on. I feel that athletes should get paid by their universities because it’s fair. It’s safe to say that collegiate athletes do more than a regular student.

Student athletes not only have to go to practices, lifting sessions and team activities, but they also have to be a full-time student by keeping up with their coursework and maintaining good grades.

Here are three aspects that go with my argument on why I feel like athletes should get paid by the university:

1.        Injuries

An aspect I think not a lot of people think about is the fact that athletes are willingly putting their bodies on the line. Some of these injuries that athletes face can be as minor as a sprain or even something as little as a cut. These bigger injuries like concussions and even something as big as a torn ACL or a broken bone can affect anyone in their everyday lives.

“We’re putting our bodies on the line and risking our physical health in a high intensity sport,” senior guard NaKyel Shelton said. “A serious injury can not only impact our athletic career but can interfere with us as future prospects.”

Everyone knows that injuries can break an athlete, so with athletes putting their lives on the line for the sake of their university should come with some compensation.

2.        The impracticability of getting a job

If your whole argument with athletes not being paid is solely based off of them being “lazy” to not get a job, you’re just wrong.

Coming from someone who hasn’t played collegiately but has been surrounded by student athletes, it looks near impossible for student athletes to get a job while being a full-time student and athlete. With the amount of training and practices they commit to as well as focusing on their studies, adding the factor of a job sounds extremely stressful.

For some, being a student athlete can seem and/or feel like a full-time job within itself.

“It’s hard enough for athletes to balance academics with athletics but to add a job as well would be incredibly difficult,” senior guard Corey Sawyer Jr. said. “[Student athletes] should be paid because they are pretty much having a full-time job. College athletes constantly make money for their universities so there should be some kind of compensation.”

According to the Illinois Department of Labor, minimum wage in the state of Illinois is $14 for the year of 2024. For these student athletes, I wouldn’t think it would be worth it to try to balance academics, athletics, a social life and a job.

“Our day starts [at] 6:45 everyday, and then to have to go to a job after while still having to maintain your education and mental health as well as sleep and taking time for yourself can be extremely stressful.” senior forward Blake Goodman said. “Also depending on the situation, certain athletes have families. Having to support a family while playing your sport everyday and going to school can be extremely stressful on people’s lives. The only way people would understand is if they stepped in our shoes for a week and see how hard it can be.”

3.        Living as a college student

Lets face it: as an athlete or not, it is expensive to live on your own as a college student.

Going back to the impracticability for student athletes to get a job, they have it significantly harder to live in their own apartments and houses.

Living costs money, and if you don’t have the money to live, that’s a problem. Yes, athletes at Eastern get scholarships, but this money can’t suffice their everyday needs for a whole school year.

“At times, we all struggle with money,” redshirt senior defensive back Mark Aitken said. “We have to pay rent. My scholarship is pretty much just for rent. So we have to figure out stuff on our own, and that takes away from focusing on football and school.”

If student athletes get paid by the university, this money can help with costs such as rent, food and clothes.

“There’s a lot of uncalculated costs,” senior tight end Jordan Sprycha said. “The school may be able to offer tuition, books, help with a meal plan and other things like that. That doesn’t obviously account for everyday things that you wouldn’t even consider, like toothpaste, toilet paper and shampoo. Obviously, stuff is more expensive, so any sort of help for those wants and needs would be beneficial.”

As for the House v NCAA case, what is the issue of putting a hold on this settlement?

Being a student athlete can be difficult with the fact that balance is key for most student athletes.

A way to help them out is to take one stress factor off of them.

Start paying the athletes that help the university make money. Case closed.

Zaria Flippin can be reached at 581-2812 or at zhflippin@eiu.edu.