Should the NFL establish a seperate feeder system aside from Colleges?

[royalfan5]

I think they should for the Cam Newtons of the world that want to play football for a living and not worry about going through the motions of being a student. The NFL teams could pick up the cost of a college education like baseball does with their high school signees. That way teams can mold players as they see fit, and it provides a check against corruption in the college game. There is nothing about being a pro football player that requires a college degree. It works for other sports, why not football?

[olevetonahill]

I voted yes, Hell they could have the Farm teams thingy. But a kid str8 out of High School should not be put up against Old Pros . They still need the time for their Bodies to mature and **** .

[jumperstop]

A lot of the good players we see come through the college ranks would decide to go sit on bench until they get kicked off a team in the NFL. Highschool students are in no way ready for the NFL and should spend a few years if not all their years in college. To many great college players end up duds, I don't think the NFL is going to be to willing to shell out for a high school player. Also it would take a lot of the talent pool away from college making the college game suck more.

[MeMyself&Me]

Hell no! I wish they'd leave them alone so they can finish college instead of leaving in 3 years. That may be good for NFL at some point but I think it would be bad for the average athlete and particularly bad for college football.

Edit: Aren't there independent semi-pro leagues. Wouldn't these be the place for these kids if they really wanted to skip the college experience.

[Cornfed]

If a kid can prove he's ready they should have a system in place that he can enter the NFL. But if he is already in college he needs to wait.

[AlboSooner]

I enjoyed watching AD play for OU.

[NormanPride]

Maaaaan, I really wanted to vote for Orange Juice as well... Crap.

And I would love it if colleges went back to having student athletes again. Screw this going pro crap. I want teams to be made up of people like Carl Pendleton.

[cyclonesooner]

Would be bad for college football.

[Scott D]

Why would anyone want college football to be as unwatchable as college basketball?

[soonerchk]

ARE YOU INSANE?????


WTF would we do on Saturdays in the fall?????




But orange juice is also a good answer.

[Dwight]

They do. It's called UFL (or whatever it's called)/Canada.

[badger]

The NCAA needs to either crack down on this pay-for-play crap or allow player stipends, at least in football, the highest revenue generating sport in college. As much as I'd love more football leagues (who wouldn't like to watch more football?) there just isn't a market for it. The XFL folded, the NFL Europe is gone, the AFL had to dog a season and I don't know about the rest of the board's chicks, but I don't really think I wanna see big burly football players in their undies, so no lingerie league for the guys!

[reflector]

They do. It's called UFL (or whatever it's called)/Canada.

The UFL rocks! There are a lot of former Sooners who play in that league. I enjoy watching the games.

[soonerchk]

I don't really think I wanna see big burly football players in their undies, so no lingerie league for the guys!

Let's not be too hasty with that.

[royalfan5]

The NCAA needs to either crack down on this pay-for-play crap or allow player stipends, at least in football, the highest revenue generating sport in college. As much as I'd love more football leagues (who wouldn't like to watch more football?) there just isn't a market for it. The XFL folded, the NFL Europe is gone, the AFL had to dog a season and I don't know about the rest of the board's chicks, but I don't really think I wanna see big burly football players in their undies, so no lingerie league for the guys!

The NFL makes enough money they could run a farm league at a loss, and it would damage their bottom line too much. Nobody would actually have to watch it. It would allow the teams to oversee the development of advanced prospects directly rather than have some college coach screw them up, they would probably pay a little bit for that.

[yermom]

i really just couldn't vote against orange juice


the college rules are just dumb. i'm not sure how to fix it though.

at least if the college game chews them up and spits them out, they could have an education out of the deal

[Scott D]

and I freely voted for orange juice.

[NormanPride]

The rules are in place to promote parity, right? But is it really helping any of the small teams get big players? Most of the best players in smaller teams are guys that went under the radar. If paying players was okay, would it really affect recruiting that much?

[soonerchk]

The rules are in place to promote parity, right? But is it really helping any of the small teams get big players? Most of the best players in smaller teams are guys that went under the radar. If paying players was okay, would it really affect recruiting that much?

Well, when Boise State is one of the top ranked teams in the country and Baylor is ahead of us in the South, I'm thinking this parity thing is working.

Doesn't mean I like it even a little bit though.

[royalfan5]

i really just couldn't vote against orange juice


the college rules are just dumb. i'm not sure how to fix it though.

at least if the college game chews them up and spits them out, they could have an education out of the deal

Which is why they should include a free education with the initial contract like baseball does.

[Scott D]

yeah but are you going to go "oh I failed at football, I guess I better go play college baseball in my mid/late 20s?"

[royalfan5]

yeah but are you going to go "oh I failed at football, I guess I better go play college baseball in my mid/late 20s?"

I suppose if you really wanted to you could.

[SunnySooner]

We need some changes, that much is true. Not everyone is meant for college, they're just not. But they may be exceptionally gifted athletically, and they should have the chance to pursue that. IDK how that would work.

The problem with the comparisons to baseball is the risk of injury. Baseball is a non-contact sport. In football, you could be paralyzed from your neck down on any given play. We see it happen every year. So, a farm football team program would have to compensate for that risk as well as offering the college option. Apples and oranges, but it does seem that a lot of these young men, who make mucho dinero for the university, end up getting the raw end of the deal. And that should change. How, exactly, is for smarter brains than mine, but it should change.

[49r]

Each NFL player should be required to donate a small percentage of his income to his Alma Mater, the funds for which could be used at the school's discretion to attract/pay a stipend to members of the team. It would be an incentive for colleges with big-time football programs to place players in the NFL and a way to (legally) pay recruits to come play for that school.

[Leroy Lizard]

Each NFL player should be required to donate a small percentage of his income to his Alma Mater, the funds for which could be used at the school's discretion to attract/pay a stipend to members of the team. It would be an incentive for colleges with big-time football programs to place players in the NFL and a way to (legally) pay recruits to come play for that school.

You really hate teams like Akron and Rice, don't you?

[yermom]

yeah, it seems like you'd have to make a pool that all players were paid out of at all schools for it to not make it more top heavy

[yermom]

ugh. i just agreed with Leroid

[misplacedsooner]

some are not college material and some just dont give a sh*t about going to school..maybe they would at a later date and thats fine too but if they dont want to go to school they shouldnt be forced to just to play ball. i say let em try to go pro and collect their check they get if they can cut it fine if not then they arent in any worse shape actually at least they got something rather than wasting time in school hardly going or flunking out and wasting the universities time and their time. college should be for people that want to go to be a student or student athlete.

[49r]

You really hate teams like Akron and Rice, don't you?

I guess if they cared about their football programs they'd be more likely to be one of the "haves". Besides if you take a look at NFL rosters you'll see that there are plenty of players (sometimes great players) from small colleges, Division II colleges, etc. Think about how much Brett Favre would have benefitted Southern Miss under this scheme. Take the Dallas Cowboys roster for example, they have players from:

Monmouth
Hofstra
Toledo
Northern Illinois (2)
Grambling
Central Washington
William & Mary
Eastern Illinois
Texas A&M Kingsville
Troy
Indiana PA
Ball State
Texas - San Antonio

The same story is repeated throughout the NFL. It's hardly as imbalanced as you'd like to think, and it's not like the schools you mentioned aren't already at all kinds of disadvantages under the current system anyway. Having NFL players "pay it forward" so to speak by funding their alma mater's football payroll, if even just a few thousand $$$ would create a de facto minor league that the NFL is helping sustain.

And I don't like the idea of creating one pool that every college would draw from equally because the amount by which schools have invested in developing NFL talent varies greatly.

[Scott D]

I think you underestimate the powerhouse Monmouth program ;)