Uncle Nevin, Benefits, and University of Miami Football Scandal

A recent investigation into the University of Miami football program showed that booster Nevin Shaprio tried to recruit players to play for the Miami Hurricanes by giving players: cash, trips, jewelry and other goodies. Shaprio provided gave an estimated $2 million in benefits to players to at least 72 players from 2002-2010. Not only were players getting benefits but coaches were also getting them as well. What is ironic is when Shaprio got into financial problems (he was running a Ponzi scheme) and asked players who had been drafted into the NFL for money they told him to take a hike. Looking at the record for University of Miami over the same time period as the scandal is looks as if the team did very well during the scandal winning over 70% of their games. No doubt the team could maybe not able to play for the season.

Paying athletes is not new for the University of Miami football program. Between 1986-1992 rapper Luther Campbell was paying players $500 to score a touchdown. However, it seems as if the scandal of today makes the past scandal seems look fairly simple. This scandal does resemble SMU’s payola scandal in the 1980s were players were given cars, cash, and all sorts of incentive to come play for SMU.

University of Miami has a history of scandals. From 1984-1994, an academic advisor helped 57 football players falsify Pell Grant applications in order to get more than $220,000. Also in 1994 nearly 1 out of every 7 football players had been arrested while playing on the team. It seems as if not only the athletic department of the University of Miami has problems but the whole school does. My personal feeling is that the president of the university, the administration, and even the athletic director looked the other way while all this was going on. The administration usually has compliance people making sure boosters and players try to keep their distance from one another. The NCAA is no angel here either.

The bigger issue however is why boosters are giving out all these benefits to college players. Really the boosters are part of an underground market with athletes. The only way to fix the problem is to allow players to get paid which would get rid of the scandals. Players are essentially saying, “Look I am underpaid because if I were properly compensated I wouldn’t have to take these cars, money, and other benefits”. Let the market decide what players are truly worth. I find it interesting that people think of this fairy tale of college athletes solely playing for the love of the game. True, some players love the game but if players just played because they loved the game how would you explain players taking goodies?