At SEC Media Day today in Birmingham, Nick Saban lashed out at NFL agents who break NCAA rules when recruiting college football players.
(Saban: Ban NFL from Alabama Campus, but not our recruiting materials!)
Saban: “How are they any better than a pimp? How would you feel if they did that to your child?”
Probably not a coincidence that the TUSCALOOSA NEWS reported earlier today that Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus had been declared ineligible after the NCAA discovered that Dareus attended a Miami party hosted by a sports agent.
While Saban will be sure to blame the sports agent for ensnaring the Alabama football player, don’t expect the $5 million-dollar-per-year coach to identify the conditions that led to Dareus wanting to live it up a little on a sports agent’s dime in South Beach.
Saban’s diatribe today about agents and the NFL’s lack of oversight was more than a little ironic considering that all high profile college football coaches - including Saban - invoke their ability to deliver an athlete an NFL career as a primary recruiting pitch.
Every single recruit who Saban signs has been pitched the idea that Alabama will give him the best chance to make the NFL, and the millions that could accompany such a career. (However small the actual chance of it happening.)
Funny thing though, that job description sounds a lot like what an NFL agent also does on the recruiting trail. Though with one notable exception: Saban, the Univ. of Alabama, television networks and countless other entities and individuals make millions off the labor of the Alabama football player - who is paid next to nothing in comparison.
Meanwhile the NFL agent is the one who gets paid next to nothing in comparison to the NFL contract and endorsements that he’ll help facilitate for Saban’s former Alabama players.
So if NFL agents are pimps, what does that make Saban?
Slave owner?
If you were a college football player and saw everyone around you on the gravy train making millions, except you, how would you feel? Would that make you more likely to take benefits from an agent? The same agent who may help you make the money you deserve in the future?
Of course, taking benefits from an agent is breaking NCAA rules. So if you’re a player who wants to chase the recruiter-enabled NFL dream without living under such absurd laws, what can you do?
Nothing.
NCAA football is a monopoly. If you want to get to the NFL, you either enrich the NCAA and Saban along the way - for nothing financially in return - or forget it.
The NCAA business model is no such thing. It’s a racket.
In other words, not only is Saban himself the pimp, he’s also the john.
3:39 pm on July 21st, 2010
Way to go Brooks, you left out the other half of the story.
More quotes from Saban from the same press conference.
Saban: “I have never kept an NFL scout out of my practice.”
Saban: “Its not fair to the good agents….”
Saban said they educate the players and the players have a responsibility as does the NFLPA
If you were attempting to paint Saban in a bad light, you did a great job, but you conveniently left out a ton of facts and other statements the man made.
3:43 pm on July 21st, 2010
RedStar,
When you make a comparison that distasteful and hypocritical, it overshadows everything else.
Take a look at the coverage of his presser by other main media outlets. Every one is spotlighting the pimp comment.
3:45 pm on July 21st, 2010
Brooks,
Come on. He said agents that who use these illegal tactics are pimps, not all agents. Also, the NCAA did not declare Dareus ineligible, Alabama did and then filed for reinstatement from the NCAA. Slaves? Have you priced an education at a major university recently? With room, board and books, Alabama players are getting at least $40,000 each year in value of education, books, lodging, and food. They also get the best trainers, weight room facilities, coaching, get exposed to scouts, etc. that prepare them for a shot at the NFL, want to put a value on THAT? Do the coaches, institutions, etc. make a TON of money off the sport and it’s players? YES. But the players get a LOT in return. They are not slaves, not prostitutes.
3:46 pm on July 21st, 2010
My way to fix college sports and “slave labor” mentality. Pay each athlete from Division I on down the same wages as employees of McDonalds, another multi-billion dollar company, for 20 hours per week. Eliminate partial scholarships for sports like baseball, softball, swimming, and soccer. Give them full scholarships. That way a college athlete will get paid like all students who need to work during college while still ending up ahead of the game by not having to repay student loans. Everybody wins. The athletes won’t need to accept money in order to be like everyone else on campus who has money.
I already know the holes in my idea
3:50 pm on July 21st, 2010
These boys need to be educated and become men before they are awarded with a Brinks truck. Saban isn’t ruining there kids eligibility; he is trying to protect it for several obvious reasons. The first of which is the team. Articles like this ignore the team concept and focus on sensationalism.
3:51 pm on July 21st, 2010
Because pimp is a harsh criticism and it’s a word you don’t often see thrown around at news conferences.
When you watch the presser it’s obvious he wasn’t talking about every agent, only rogue ones. This is especially evident when he mentions “Its not fair to the good agents….”
4:08 pm on July 21st, 2010
er these
4:44 pm on July 21st, 2010
Yeahhhh, I’m not so sure that your beef here is with Saban, but rather the NCAA and its practices. Might also be better to not refer to him as a “slave owner?” Some of your articles are truly excellent, while others, such as this, show a real half-assed approach to reporting. I come to this site because I enjoy reading what you write, but in the words of the Great Keyshawn Johnson….. C’mon man!
5:50 pm on July 21st, 2010
Are you practicing to be on Fox News? Whats going on with all the one sided opinion pieces lately.
6:25 pm on July 21st, 2010
Economically speaking you are WAY off base. If an athlete were to pay for the education, housing, food, training and coaching themselves it would cost well over $40,000/year. These kids have ZERO other opportunities to earn anything close to that much money. NONE. They can’t enter the NFL and job opportunities for most college students, nevermind ones of their backgrounds. That isn’t to mention the non-monetary benefits they recieve (i.e. Hot college chicks, and lots of them if they choose).
The fact that colleges have no problem finding athletes to accept scholarships proves that they are, in fact, paid enough.
6:27 pm on July 21st, 2010
By the way, one could use the same opportunity argument to make the case that pro athletes should be paid closer to $80,000/season than the millions they currently make.
6:54 pm on July 21st, 2010
If that was the case, RedStar, then Saban should have clarified his statements and say “rouge” agents. He didn’t. He pretty much covered a blanket over all of them.
But let’s not be crazy here. A sizable number of agents are hustlers and pimps. When have you ever heard of an agent who is playing by the game? Last I checked, no one in the media talks about them.
7:50 pm on July 21st, 2010
@RickyB:
I would love to hear your argument about how pro athletes should be paid closer to $80,000/year. Do you even know how much money is involved in pro sports? Your statement is unequivocally asinine.
8:03 pm on July 21st, 2010
If athletes were only offered $80,000 to play in the NFL, NBA or NHL they would take it. Only the rare athlete would be able to find an alternative career remotely as lucrative, the vast majority having to settle for more pedestrian salaries (say $40,000 for example). It’s the same reason smart athletes pass their prime play in smaller leagues once they’re past their prime. It’s better to earn $40,000 a year for only six weeks of work than it is to maybe make $40,000 working 260+ days a year.
From an economic perspective today’s athletes are WAY overpaid.
8:05 pm on July 21st, 2010
@Chris, very true. RickyB has never seen the story showing Jim Otto getting out of bed - 85 yr olds can walk better. Nobody is going to wreck their body for $80k/yr now. And you didn’t even slam RickyB for not being able to spell ‘receive’ properly. But I got your back…. apparently RickyB’s opportunities were pretty limited too.
8:05 pm on July 21st, 2010
*past, not pass their prime.
5:26 pm on July 22nd, 2010
Nick, Nick, Nick.
When you say stuff like this, I think of Don King saying agents are pimping the athletes,
Charley Rangel saying ethics in Congress matter;
Gary Condit saying he values the importance of pages;
Nick, you told Huizenga you were not going to Alabama while planning to do just that. But what you say is partly true, I give you some credit. It’s just that you are a damn snake and your credibility is shut.
HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM
1. Make the solution of this problem a part of the bylaws for schools, NFL teams, NFLPA, sports agents, and students. Everybody agrees. We need some one to make this happen cause the NCAA and NFL are too wobbly about this issue and they will do nothing. Perhaps a commission appointed by Congress. Im in trouble here, I can’t think of anyone. Mandela, Biden, Lord help us. Any suggestions.
a. Agents will loose their certification (like snake says, a year or more). The involved agent may not represent the player during contractual negotiations. Will help prevent messy fiascos like Reggie Bush and his parents and his agents.
b. Sue the player (while they are active in the NFL) for millions if they cause the school games, champinships, Heismans. USC should sue Reggie and his parents.
c. Coaches need help in oversight of players. Invest in Lojacks for all the players (just joking).
d. Families, yes, dumb greedy uncles, parents, and cousins who make commitments to deliver the player and take money in the process. I don’t know what can be done about them.
10:23 pm on July 26th, 2010
Who is Saban to call agents pimps???
How many times has he chased a bigger paycheck & how many times has he lied about his pending moves??
MacDaddy Saban aint no better than the rest of the pimps!!