Stay in school or go pro?

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

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. 

[Spider-Dan]

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

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.

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.

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

[Phishfan]

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.

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.

[Phishfan]

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.

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.

[Spider-Dan]

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 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.

[Tenshot13]

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.

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.

[Phishfan]

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.

[Spider-Dan]

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.

[Dave Gray]

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.

[Spider-Dan]

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.

[Tenshot13]

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.

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.

[Dave Gray]

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.

[Sunstroke]

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.

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.

[Phishfan]

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.

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.

[Tenshot13]

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.