Earlier this week, it was announced that the NCAA was putting together a team to explore the topic of “athlete compensation”. Though they have already said that this new concept would not necessarily involve the NCAA paying their student-athletes, they are looking to change some of the regulations so that student-athletes’ won’t be punished for profiting off of their image and likeness.

Todd Gurley, current running back for the Los Angeles Rams, got into trouble back when he played for the University of Georgia for receiving payment for autographs. Johnny Manziel, former Cleveland Browns quarterback, got into trouble for the same reason. Both of these incidents resulted in suspensions for the two college stars, but did not cost them their eligibility.

The same cannot be said for former University of Central Florida kicker Donald De La Haye, known better by “Deestroying”, who was deemed ineligible by the NCAA for posting monetized videos on his YouTube channel that involved his athletic abilities.

The NCAA’s new project would make it so that athletes who are in the same positions as Gurley, Manziel, and De La Haye would not risk their eligibility by profiting off of their images as student-athletes.

I think that the NCAA has made a great move by looking into ways for athletes to be compensated, but this could quickly become a competition for athletes to become more popular than one another in order to receive more money from their fans. In addition, the NCAA may then have to worry about dealing with athlete sponsorship complications.

I recently wrote an article in which I stated that the NCAA should pay their student-athletes stipends to reimburse them for their athletic contributions. While I am not 100% satisfied with their newly proposed solution to the issue, I do believe that it is a step in the right direction and I hope that it opens the doors for further discussion on the topic of athletic compensation.