The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I didn't want to hijack the Teddy Bridgewater thread but I think it raises an interesting topic of discussion.  Lets assume you're a college football star. You've just completed your third year in college and are eligible to go pro.  You are guaranteed to be a top five selection (and the lucrative contract that comes with it). What do you do?

I think it really depends on your other financial options.  If you're from the hood, have lived through poverty, and have no other prospects, you go and get paid now.  You owe it to yourself, your kids, your grandkids, and the parents that did their best to raise you.  It's just too much of a financial risk.

If you can fall back on a cushy job at Dad's oil company, maybe you stay in school.

Super-duper props to those athletes that leave early to get the money, but end up going back to school later to finish their degrees.

This is my answer. I would go pro and take the money. Even if I'm a Jamarcus Russell/Ryan Leaf, I'm guaranteed to walk away with at least $15 million in my pocket (before taxes).  With that kind of money I can always go back to school later and finish.

The entire point of going to college is to increase your earning potential. You aren't going to increase it above an NFL "star" salary with any undergrad. There isn't even a choice to be made, IMO. -EK

I still maintain that if you're projected to be selected for the NFL then you take the money and be smart with it. You can always get your degree later.

Agree with the general sentiment above... Getting an NFL contract is most likely the biggest money you are ever going to make in your life. If you can come out early and maximize the amount of time you can earn that NFL paycheck, it would be silly not to do so. You can finish your degree during the offseason or after your playing days are over.

Brad Culpepper is a great example. He played in the NFL for years. He had his undergrad degree, but went to law school after his career was over. Now he is part of arguably the best known law firm in Tampa.

I look at it like, you can only go down by staying in school. Your projections are based on those coming out at the same time. You never know who can or will have a monster college year the following year. So I would come out, if I was projected to go in the 1st rd without much thought. Layer rounds would require some consideration.

Actually he is a terrible example. You are using a guy who graduated early and stayed to play his senior year while in grad school and then went on to play several years in the NFL as a good example of why someone else should come out early?

Let's be honest here. The rookie salary is different now than it was years ago. Unless you are guaranteed as an early pick there isn't much benefit in coming out early. Most of these guys over value their skills and are not going to be a top pick (there are only so many spots to go around). Anyone who isn't going round 1 needs to stay in school. They are not going to make enough to be set for life (see how many players go broke) so why take the schooling out of your life? It will be much easier to finish school while on a scholarship rather than when they have lost eligibility and will have to pay for it on their own.

The base MINIMUM salary for a rookie is $420,000 per year. Even if a player is gone after one season, they can go back to school, finish up their degree and try to get a job in their field.  $420k trumps 1 or 2 years of scholarship even if your paying out of pocket.

How so?  When he's on scholarship, he cannot have any endorsement deals or make any income that the NCAA deems "inappropriate."  After his career is over, even if he wants to finish his degree, he can have a decent income while he's doing it.

And let's not ignore that fact that for many of these top-tier players that are getting degrees in communications, their name is far more important than the letters after them.  There's an awful lot of sports commentators and analysts that either didn't finish their degree or have a degree in a completely different field.

Subtract taxes, agent fees, and Richie Incognito stealing your lunch money and there isn't much left after one or two years.  However, if you stay in school gain some maturity, and improve your skills; you may be more likely to last longer than two years in the NFL.  Overall, I think it comes down to that great unknown of when will you get injured, and how bad.

And you actually believe they are going back? Good for you, but it ain't happening.

And a guy who isn't a top pick isn't going to get any endorsement deals anyway so that really isn't a factor. Banking on a broadcasting career is also about as reliable as banking on a pro sports career. There are a lot of people interested for a limited number of spots and people don't retire very often.

This is a very week argument.  The whole base of your statement is said hypothetical athlete too lazy not go back to school to finish their degree and will blow through hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And lets be real, almost every player that comes out early is going to get taken in the first couple of rounds, otherwise there is no reason for them to come out early, baring a disciplinary incident.  So these guys are going to be millionaires, even if the rookie wage scale is less than it was.

If they lose all of their money, then that's on them, but taking the money is the right call.

Unless you have been a three year (or at least 2 and half year starter) in college AND are projected to be a top ten pick, I think you are better off staying in college.

The reason for this is most players would benefit from an additional year of playing at college speed to improve their skill set before playing against experienced pros. 

While I don't know (nor does anyone else) what would have happened if Sanchez had stayed in school additional year, I tend to think that (1) he would have still been a top 10 pick AND (2) he would have arrived at an NFL team better prepared to play at an NFL level. 

The downside of staying is obvious, (1) risk of injury and (2) if you are projected as a top ten pick of dropping in the draft the following year.  if you are not a top ten prospect your chances of improving your stock are greater than the risk of dropping. 

Plus you get the degree. 

http://www.rasmussen.edu/student-life/blogs/main/athletes-with-college-degrees/

Keep in mind that this is a list comprised of high-profile players.  There aren't going to be news stories if Daniel Thomas goes back and finishes his degree.

There are plenty of non-top picks that do endorsements for local businesses.  Not every endorsement has to be Nike or Sprite.

They will not be millionaires and they will blow through the few dollars they receive. My argument is about staying in if you are not a top pick. A guaranteed top pick is different than a guy who comes out for the second or third round. Many guys coming out early are not going to be in round 1 or 2 regardless of your beliefs.  Based on last years draft there were 72 early entrants. Of those 16 were from the first round. That leaves 56 that fall into my draft position category of not being a top pick. Of those 56, 25 were not drafted at all. That leaves 31 drafted in round 2 or higher. Of those 31, 28 were drafted after round 2. The numbers do not support your and their beliefs that they would be drafted early. Most of them would have been better served by getting that degree while it was free.

You provided a list of five, thanks. Also, as you mentioned this list is only successful stars. Please find me a list of failures who went back to school and we will be on topic.

I still don't understand why you're claiming that it's just impossible for a player to go back to school.  Over 1/3 (http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/about/media_center/press_releases/files/release_2012-04-19.pdf) of adults in college are over 25.

This is before we even get into the discussion of what that degree will actually do for them.  I daresay their first NFL contract will outstrip the total lifetime earnings increase (from a degree) for many of these players.  Their best employment options (degree or not) are not going to be from submitting resumes on Monster.com, but rather through a hookup from their many contacts at the high school, college, or NFL level.

The first pick in the 3rd round:
Travis Kelce
4 year deal
Salary: $3,126,304   
Signing Bonus: $703,304

Last pick in the 7th round:
Justice Cunningham
4 year deal
Salary: $2,205,896   
Signing Bonus: $45,896

More than a few dollars.  If a guy blows through that amount of money, he's an idiot.

You realize that NFL contracts are not guaranteed, so how much of that money do you think they will actually see? Also, neither was an early entrant into the draft.

So then what, exactly, are you arguing for?  If you're a 6th-round player that comes out early, it's almost certainly because there were factors that were likely to prevent you from completing your degree (e.g. you can't afford to stay in college).  That isn't really much of a choice then, is it?

Even for the last pick in the 7th round, the signing bonus alone is more than enough to finish his degree.

I assumed that this question was for high-profile athletes that are expected to get drafted in the 1st round.  That's really what we're talking about here.

For high-profile athletes, the degree isn't worth the paper it's printed on.  If Tim Couch wants to get a job, no one in Lexington is going to say, "Well, if only you had that communications degree, we could bring you on..."

All he has to do is make a call to a UK booster and he'll have a job the next day.

I understand that NFL contracts aren't guaranteed. It's still a giant chunk of change, which you keep belittling as "just a few dollars".  Also, I'm not going to look up all 70 whatever players that entered the draft early, so I showed you what the first player in the mid to late rounds signed to and what the last pick in the draft was signed to.  The guys who left college early ended up somewhere in between. I shouldn't have to explain this to you and I think it was obvious what point I was making.

The signing bonuses alone of some of these athletes are more than I'll make in a lifetime.  Even if they play and get 1 year of pay, that's a life-changing amount of money for some of these guys that grew up in poverty.

Two general thoughts about "lists:"

1) Only the winners get featured treatment on lists
2) You can arrange just about anything to support anything on a list

In general, Phish, I would agree with you. Human nature tells me that players (read: people) who leave early that:

1) Make a "decent-but-not-sizable" initial paycheck from being a mid-round draft pick
2) Blow through that money fairly quickly, as people who come from no money often do when they come into money
3) Doesn't have any more NFL paydays coming, either due to injury, lack of talent or just plain shit luck

...are far less likely to go back to school to complete their degree when they have to pay for it themselves than when it was fully paid for by scholarship.

It's hard to really put a blanket philosophy on this topic though, because:

1) I'm sure there are many cases where a player gets that decent-but-not-sizable payday from the NFL and is fiscally responsible with it, either by proper investment, the creation of business or some other revenue-generating system.
2) I'm sure there are many cases where a player decides to pass up a potential NFL payday, ends up getting injured, has his lack of talent exposed or just runs into shit luck, and never gets the opportunity to make those big bucks.

I think each case should have the player, his parents, other successful and caring adults in their life, all sit down and discuss whether the player has his head on right to be responsible with that money, and whether the degree is a critical part of what they want to do with their life outside of football...just in case that injury/no-talent/shit luck scenario should occur.

And this is why I agree guaranteed top picks can and should come out. Most of them have unrealistic expectations though and are better served by staying in school because the numbers show they are not top picks.

If it's any consolation Phish, I do see where you're coming from, and there are definitely players who would benefit from staying in school another year or two, but if we're blanketing this topic, my opinion is to take the money.

If I was Blake Bortles I would go pro. He made himself a millionaire last night.


University of Florida boosters have to be upset. They chose Jeff Driskel from little ole Oviedo when Blake Bortles was playing 5 miles down the road and not getting any media love. 

How can you not afford to stay in college when you're on a scholarship?



That win did a lot for UCF as well.  Recruits around the country have taken notice as a win like that will put UCF football on the map.  And if Bortles does go pro, UCF has its pick of the best quarterback recruits in the country as they will see an opportunity to play as a freshman.

There are two answers.  1) Everything isn't free in college and you still have certain expenses with no income.  2) opportunity cost.

Most of the top QBs for the 2014 class have committed already. If I were guessing who would replace Bortles, it would be their top QB recruit from last year, Tyler Harris. Justin Holman, who's a year ahead of Harris. was officially Bortles backup this year, and saw a tiny bit of mop-up duty late in a couple of games, but I think Harris will be the replacement if Bortles jumps to the NFL this offseason. Size and mobility-wise, Harris is very similar to Bortles.

If someone offered you a "job" where you didn't get paid (but your room and board is taken care of), that certainly wouldn't mean you are financially set.  Any sort of outside costs (e.g. family expenses) mean you are in financial trouble.