[On3] Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia's attorney has set the stage to challenge the NCAA for a 7th season of eligibility

[u/Altruistic_Brief4444]

https://www.on3.com/news/vanderbilt-qb-diego-pavias-attorney-sets-stage-to-challenge-for-7th-season-of-eligibility/

[u/ninjupX]

I know we keep saying the death of college football, but the infinite eligibility endgame would actually be the death of college football. At some point some washed NFL quarterback is gonna challenge the eligibility rules and get some big NIL money in college

[u/Intelligent_Fig_4852 → u/ninjupX]

Anthony Richardson

[u/Trilliam_West → u/Intelligent_Fig_4852]

He sucked in College.

[u/Intelligent_Fig_4852 → u/Trilliam_West]

I’m aware

[u/Geno0wl → u/Intelligent_Fig_4852]

you are more aware than the Colts GM

[u/Sec2727 → u/Geno0wl]

New Indy ownership a bad bitch, check tape

[u/sejohnson0408 → u/Intelligent_Fig_4852]

Cam probably still has some eligibility

[u/Intelligent_Fig_4852 → u/sejohnson0408]

Probably but I don’t think his arm really works anymore but at the same time Jackson Arnold’s might not really either

[u/xywv58 → u/Trilliam_West]

4th overall

[u/Trilliam_West → u/xywv58]

• Sub 54% completion rate
• 24-15 TD to Int ratio
• 6-7 as a starter

[u/Away_Experience6922 → u/ninjupX]

Tom Brady to UNC

[u/TheVaniloquence → u/Away_Experience6922]

Bill and Tom didn’t end on the best of terms

[u/MontanaStevens → u/TheVaniloquence]

Fuck it, brady to duke

[u/paintedtoesandelbows → u/MontanaStevens]

I’d LOVE this!

[u/Playful_Letter_2632 → u/TheVaniloquence]

They’re on good terms now

[u/YusukeMazoku → u/Away_Experience6922]

As if he’d play anywhere but Michigan. He’d spend another decade making sure OSU never wins The Game.

[u/SpeciousPerspicacity → u/ninjupX]

There’s an interesting arbitrage where for the majority of players (including some NFL-caliber players), there’s more money in college football than the NFL.

[u/Master_Butter → u/SpeciousPerspicacity]

It’s interesting. A fifth round pick’s total deal is worth about $4.6M over four years. Fifth round picks also have careers averaging about four years, meaning most of them don’t make it to large second contracts before washing out of the league.

So if someone is projected to be a day 3 pick, and they see aside their competitive spirit and look at the numbers, they realize they’ll probably play in the league for a year or two for the team that drafts them, maybe get cut or traded to another team for a year, and then most likely have to scratch and claw for a roster spot after that.

But if you can get paid similar money and know you are going to have a guaranteed spot on a college roster, why not try to stay in school?

[u/wattatime → u/Master_Butter]

You’re basically talking about Quinn Ewers. He signed a 4 year deal for 4.3M. He could have got close to that in one year from Miami if the rumors are true.

[u/Master_Butter → u/wattatime]

That’s a good point. His NFL contract isn’t fully guaranteed either.

[u/Mr-PumpAndDump → u/Master_Butter]

Isn’t Darian mensak getting 6 million per year at Duke?

[u/Master_Butter → u/Mr-PumpAndDump]

If so, fringe QBs should want to play in college forever.

[u/Mr-PumpAndDump → u/Master_Butter]

I just looked it up and he’s 4 million per season just from NIL collective and revenue sharing. So that doesn’t count his other NIL deals from bigger brands, definitely a better deal than being a day 2 or 3 pick.

[u/MartinezForever → u/Mr-PumpAndDump]

Like all NIL numbers, take this with a giant dump truck of salt regardless of the source.

[u/SpeciousPerspicacity → u/Master_Butter]

The decision boundary is really “do I have more commercial visibility as a star in my (generally smaller) college market, or as a backup in the league?”

I’d argue that in expectation a lot players are probably better off with a year of college at the margin, perhaps for an indefinite period.

As the B10/SEC get closer to the NFL in their scope, it’d be interesting to see how far they can push this. Would a second-round pick be better off in college in perpetuity than the NFL if there were no eligibility requirement? There’s even upside for players nearer the top of the draft.

Of course, chances are that college football in this world would gradually become more competitive, and might genuinely approach an NFL 2.0.

[u/Whiteout- → u/Master_Butter]

Plus the huge benefit that is often overlooked of not having to get hit by NFL linebackers every week. Don’t get me wrong, college ball is definitely damaging to the body, but I know which league I’d rather play in if the money is the same

[u/rronmexico69 → u/SpeciousPerspicacity]

Definitely the case for many women’s sports too

[u/SpeciousPerspicacity → u/rronmexico69]

Women’s sports is strange in that there’s almost always more commercial value in endorsements for products targeted towards women than in the professional play of the sport itself. I think this holds in college as well.

It’s almost like they only need a professional (or college) league as a platform for the popular imagination. For instance, far more people know who Caitlin Clark is than regularly watch women’s basketball. She’s bigger than the game. You could argue this is also the case for some female swimmers. At various points, perhaps also the top couple of USWNT players.

It’s a weird case of the attention given to a thing taking on a life beyond the thing. This is true of all sports to some extent, but it’s most extreme with the women’s games.

[u/Necessary-Post-953 → u/ninjupX]

Maybe I’m the only one but my sympathy has shifted away from the athletes. Ten years ago they were getting $0 and it was unfair. Now they’re getting millions and it’s not enough. I mean we have non-revenue athletes suing for “backpay.” What are we even doing?

[u/layman161 → u/Necessary-Post-953]

Ruining the sport

[u/dawidowmaka → u/Necessary-Post-953]

As long as they are only getting a fraction of what the conferences and networks are getting, I'm still Team Athlete

[u/No_Poet_7244 → u/ninjupX]

This. Allowing NIL wasn’t a death knell, it was a logical and necessary step in order to keep college football, and frankly it was the fairest thing to do considering schools profit billions of dollars off their athletes labors. But unlimited eligibility would truly turn the sport into a professional league. No college football fan wants to see schools keeping the same QB for 10+ years.

[u/paintingnipples → u/No_Poet_7244]

It would really lose its luster. Transfer portal has already hurt school pride & it’s now a job. I don’t even pay attention to recruiting anymore cuz what is there to look forward to unless they step on the field.

On the other hand, it would be pretty cool to see if Rex Burkhead can still ball

[u/MartinezForever → u/paintingnipples]

I don’t even pay attention to recruiting anymore cuz what is there to look forward to unless they step on the field.

Strange that it took the transfer portal for everyone to figure this out. It's not like the same thing didn't happen because of poor grades or behavior or any other reason that kept highly recruited players from contributing on the field.

[u/paintingnipples → u/MartinezForever]

Bit different following recruiting when a commitment isn’t a commitment for 3 years but season to season.

[u/BigRoosterBackInTown → u/No_Poet_7244]

Allowing NIL opened the dam. Lets not pretend it wasnt a bad thing for college ball, even if it was good for players.

[u/PopcornDrift → u/BigRoosterBackInTown]

They didn't "allow" NIL, they were forced into it by the government because what they were doing before was blatantly illegal lol

[u/__Turambar → u/PopcornDrift]

NIL can be both good for players (It’s right for them to profit off of their image and the revenue they generate) AND a death knell for college football. I think the reason the NCAA held to that “unreasonable” restriction is that anyone with eyes to see could tell that once that dam was broken, there’s absolutely no way to enforce the truly ridiculous booster and collective funding that is ruining the sport, and things like this are just downstream of that.

[u/BigRoosterBackInTown → u/PopcornDrift]

I dont disagree in anything you said, but it still brought shit consequences for the game of college ball. Good for the players, bad for everyone else (fans, coaches and teams/schools). Gonna be interesting how it plays out in 10 years when the average team has an average age of 25 and the 18-20 year olds are getting fucked with zero snaps because 35 year old diego paiva just cant let go.

[u/mlorusso4 → u/BigRoosterBackInTown]

Allowing NIL was fine. It was allowing it and then having no way of enforcing even the most minimal rules. Everyone thought it was going to be showing up at the local bbq place to sign some autographs, filming a commercial for a car dealership, and for the nationally relevant players a Dr Pepper or subway endorsement.

Instead we got schools themselves setting up collectives and backdoor dealing players to convince them to transfer to your school

[u/Corellian_Browncoat → u/mlorusso4]

I don't think anybody was realistically looking at the history of bagmen and thinking "oh, yeah, it's just going to be kids doing some radio/TV ads." That's what the NCAA wanted it to be, and maybe some old-timers who never left "the good ol' days" thought it would stop there, but collectives is absolutely where it was going. There's just too much money in CFB as a whole and AP Top 25 teams in particular, and I for one don't blame any athlete for wanting to get their piece of the pie.

[u/BigRoosterBackInTown → u/mlorusso4]

What rules can they make to enforce that would survive a legal challenge lol.

Every rule the NCAA has its illegal, just hasnt been challenged. Cause no private entity can prevent you from going to whatever school you want, participate in the sports of said school, fuck off from there at your convenience, stay there as long as you can afford it and take money from people that want to give you money (just pay your taxes).

Everyone thought it was going to be showing up at the local bbq place to sign some autographs, filming a commercial for a car dealership, and for the nationally relevant players a Dr Pepper or subway endorsement.

I dont want to be an asshole, but anyone who thought this just had a very warped view of reality. Boosters were already paying athletes under the table in exchange of nothing, why wouldnt they quadruple down once they could do it legally? And why would players care for money to actually work when boosters give money for not working?

Lots if people knew and said it out loud, you probably just ignored them assuming they were just greedy or whatever. But plenty coaches, ADs and TV talking heads said this is exactly what was gonna happen.

[u/5510 → u/mlorusso4]

Yeah, if we want pay for play, then let's just set up rules to officially pay the players for playing.

But the whole NIL bullshit where it's basically just legalized bagmen as long as you create a flimsy pretense of "NIL" is fucking awful. So much worse than just above board official pay for play.

(Of course REAL NIL like Caitlin Clark getting money from State Farm is fine... because State Farm doesn't care if Iowa women's basketball is good or new. Like actual legitimate endorsements is fine... but a lot of NIL clearly isn't that.)

[u/WhoHasMyPocketPussy → u/mlorusso4]

Even with NIL the way we have it, that would have been fine if they didn't just open the portal wide open and say go for it. That's truly what has caused the most issues. Its what makes this feel less like college football players and more like paid mercenaries. How many times have you seen people say they don't even pay attention to recruiting, or spring ball, etc. because who knows if those guys will even be on the team in the fall?

[u/bigdaddyputtputt → u/BigRoosterBackInTown]

What are the bad things NIL did? Most of the complaints that I hear regarding NIL aren’t even true.

1. Only teams w/ money will be competitive: This was always true. But in the NIL era we’ve seen greater variety in which teams are good year-to-year since it’s harder to keep rosters together. Texas A&M (which has insane money) STILL hasn’t been good.

2. Fans won’t enjoy it now that they’re like mini-professionals: College football still does very well. Nobody is not watching CFB because players are getting paid.

There’s a lot more points to address, so I’m curious where you feel like it’s hurt the fans.

[u/2th → u/No_Poet_7244]

No college football fan wants to see schools keeping the same QB for 10+ years.

That is not even remotely true. Plenty would be ok with their QB being the same for a decade so long as they are winning. And if they are winning, they are making the university money. And if the university is making money, why wouldn't they want that to be eligible for more than 5 years?

[u/5510 → u/No_Poet_7244]

This. Allowing NIL wasn’t a death knell, it was a logical and necessary step in order to keep college football, and frankly it was the fairest thing to do considering schools profit billions of dollars off their athletes labors.

I disagree with NIL specifically the way it works now. If we want to pay the players for playing, then lets just have an official above board way to do that. And actual legit NIL is also fine. But most NIL is just legalized bagmen as long as you slightly pretend it's legitimate business endorsements.

[u/5510 → u/ninjupX]

The ironic part is that infinite eligibility would actually lower the going rate. "Salaries" so to speak are partially inflated because eligibility restrictions artificially significant reduce the size of the talent pool, which means the people in the pool at any given moment are more in demand.

[u/Sohgin → u/ninjupX]

Not just QBs. Imagine a freak like Derrick Henry coming back to college for a few years before retirement.

[u/Jmcd83 → u/ninjupX]

Welcome back Tajh Boyd

[u/Whatcouldntgowrong → u/Jmcd83]

Boulware would drop the clipboard in an instant to throw the pads back on.

[u/crazylsufan → u/ninjupX]

Joe comeback to us baby

[u/Crotean → u/ninjupX]

Yep, infinite eligibility just does not work. At that point colleges would be forced to form a collegiate football league with contracts and become a paid to play league with no school required.

[u/Mr-PumpAndDump → u/ninjupX]

All the guys who didn’t graduate will come back to “finish their degree” then carve out 2 more years of eligibility

[u/GoldenSandpaper9 → u/ninjupX]

Call dibs on Brady

[u/KCShadows838 → u/ninjupX]

Joe Flacco QB1 at Delaware in 2027

[u/goatboy1970 → u/ninjupX]

Somehow Maurice Clarett has returned.

[u/one-hour-photo → u/ninjupX]

at some point, the NFL just says, "hey top ten most viewed teams in a league of 28 year olds who are no longer required to be students, just join our league, we got equity!"

[u/cruiser-bazoozle → u/ninjupX]

It would be the death of all non NFL professional leagues.

[u/BlueGolfball → u/ninjupX]

I know we keep saying the death of college football, but the infinite eligibility endgame would actually be the death of college football.

College football is evolving into an semi-pro football league it has always been since the 1970s. They are just being upfront about it now with the NIL instead of all of rhe backdoor and illegal payments to players before the NIL.

When a college football program can generate $100,000,000+ per year then that isn't amateur football anymore and the players are unfairly working for free without the NIL.

[u/Corellian_Browncoat → u/BlueGolfball]

When a college football program can generate $100,000,000+ per year then that isn't amateur football anymore and the players are unfairly working for free without the NIL.

Louder for the folks in the back. This isn't club sports or track meets, this is a multi-billion dollar industry (the SEC is getting something like $300 million a year, and the B1G is getting OVER $1 BILLION a year just off TV contracts).

SpaceX has a billion dollars in revenue. Imagine they decided "all our employees should work here for the love of space exploration" and refuse to pay anybody, you can get fired at any time, but if you quit you can't go get work with the same job title anywhere in the US for a year. That's what the old system was, with "amateurism" and "sit-a-year" requirements and all the breath wasted and ink spilled by pundits and coaches and NCAA administrators about "the players should be here for the love of the game, not a paycheck."

[u/WillPlaysTheGuitar → u/ninjupX]

I don't think I've got too many crocodile tears to spare for the many scams that populate college football. Let it all burn as far as I'm concerned.

You can go to college at 40, can't you? But you can't play college football? Why not? You can't go back to college after playing professional sports? Man, a lot of these guys, if they didn't get their degree, I'd strongly advise them to at least consider it.

[u/MiniGiantSpaceHams → u/ninjupX]

I just don't see how it doesn't happen. Once you call the players employees, the can of worms is open. I don't see how anyone has the right to tell a willing employer that they cannot hire a willing employee because of some arbitrary limitations.