Every time I hear the acronym NIL—that dastardly trio of letters—I can't help but flash back to another era and reflect on how much college athletics has changed.
I enjoy reminiscing, but I also wonder whether the athletes of yesteryear—the few still with us—feel cheated by the financial windfall now available to today's players.
As recently as five years ago, before NIL, a student-athlete's compensation came in the form of a scholarship, room and board, medical and dental care, travel expenses, clothing allowances and a cost-of-attendance stipend that totaled roughly $10,000 per year.
If I had received that in my day, I would have thought I was a wealthy young man. While times were different then, athletes on full scholarship still received everything except the travel allowance, clothing allowance, and cost-of-attendance stipend.
They also had the opportunity—provided their coaches approved—to work part-time for extra spending money. Most found summer jobs, which made for great newspaper stories around this time of year. Dan Magill, Georgia's enterprising sports information director, routinely mailed questionnaires asking players where they were working for the summer. If a player hadn't found a job, his coaches usually encouraged him to take one, preferably outdoors. Linemen, especially, were expected to spend the summer doing construction work.
This was long before weightlifting became a cornerstone of football training. Today, strength and conditioning are year-round priorities. Back then, hard physical labor was considered the best way to prepare for the season.
An indoor job wasn't nearly as impressive. Ceiling fans and air conditioning weren't exactly viewed as ideal football preparation.
One summer in the 1950s, quarterback Tommy Lewis, who was deeply committed to military service and enrolled in Air Force ROTC, spent the summer at an Air Force base training to become a pilot. We all thought that was the most exciting summer job imaginable—flying off into the "Wild Blue Yonder."
I also remember a player who ran a Coca-Cola delivery route in his South Georgia hometown. He worked hard, stayed in shape, and enjoyed all the free Cokes he wanted. Back then, grabbing an ice-cold Coca-Cola whenever you were thirsty felt like one of life's greatest luxuries—especially when it didn't cost you a dime.
Today's football players don't need summer jobs. Most remain in Athens, working daily with the strength and conditioning staff while preparing for the upcoming season. Some take summer classes, but their primary focus is football—and ultimately positioning themselves for the NFL Draft.
There's no need to earn a little spending money anymore. NIL has transformed college athletics into a lucrative enterprise. Players have access to financial opportunities previous generations couldn't have imagined, along with every Powerade they could ever want. They live as comfortably as just about anyone in Clarke County.
Looking back, has there ever been a better arrangement than playing the sport you love while receiving a free college education? That was the original bargain. Somewhere along the way, greed and self-interest changed the equation.
We have entered the age of professionalism.
The National Football Foundation once honored individuals with its Contribution to Amateur Football Award through local chapters across the country. Today, the award has been renamed the Contribution to College Football Award.
The reason is simple: amateur football, at least at the college level, no longer exists.
Will high school athletes eventually be paid to play? Will that trend one day reach middle school? Where does it end? More importantly, does it end at all?
Playing for the love of the game or the pride of your alma mater?
Those ideals still exist for some, but they are no longer the driving force they once were. In today's college football landscape, that notion is about as rare as a helmet without a facemask.