College athletics have been in a state of flux over the past several years — and I’ve written quite a bit about it lately. The advent of the transfer portal, name, image, and likeness (NIL), and conference realignment have changed the landscape of the sport. Add to that the constant concern for player safety, and it’s easy to see that players and coaches may be looking for some answers to the changing nature of the sport.
So a group of former players decided to take their concerns to the last entity in the world that needs to get involved: the Biden administration. Seth Emerson reports at The Athletic that six former players and an ESPN anchor (naturally) went to the White House on Nov. 8 to discuss several issues concerning college football with the president.
“It was also an important moment in the debate over NIL, revenue sharing and other issues in college sports,” Emerson writes. “The NCAA and member conferences have been lobbying Congress for legislation to regulate NIL and these issues. Biden’s involvement is a clear sign that this will not be a one-sided debate, with the White House saying it wants the players to have a voice. While current players weren’t part of it, the former players — six in all, along with ESPN anchor Kevin Negandhi — were invited to represent those views.”
(Bless your heart, Seth. I love your Georgia Bulldogs coverage, but you’re being a bit naïve here. Anything Joe Biden does is one-sided.)
Related: I Was Wrong for Doubting The Athletic After NYT Bought It — It's Essential Sports Coverage
The former players got more than an audience with the president. Biden took them on a White House tour and engaged them in conversation on other subjects — and he took time for the obligatory photo op.
I believe college football players deserve to have their voice heard on and off the field.
— President Biden (@POTUS) November 8, 2023
Today, I met with former players and advocates to discuss fair treatment and consistent safety standards. pic.twitter.com/3m0hsbMOmN
“Just to think they see this issue as important enough that they would carve out time of the President’s schedule to meet with us, means everything,” Desmond Howard, an ESPN analyst and former player, told Emerson. “You know as analysts, and people who do color and call games, we all talk about these issues, but we think it’s just us and people don’t really care. But for it to reach this height, we’re at the White House brother, it’s truly special. And it gives us hope for change.”
Side note: at least half of the former players who went to the White House are affiliated with ESPN, and Negandhi tagged along as an anchor. Isn't it just like ESPN to think that the issues facing college football need the input of a Democrat president?
What did the players talk about with the president? They discussed the typical issues that have dominated recent discussions of off-the-field issues, namely safety and money.
"The dominant topics were revenue sharing with athletes, health and safety standards and generally giving players a voice in the NCAA and college athletics," Emerson writes. "There was only brief mention, participants said, about making athletes employees of schools, which would likely lead to unionizing."
I bet that last bit got Biden rubbing his grubby little hands together. The left would love for college athletes to become union employees, and it's the worst thing that could happen. Can you imagine if unionized players decided to go on strike and derail a season? It could do untold damage to athletic department revenue — including the players' scholarships.
While those present claim that Biden didn't make specific policy recommendations, it does sound like the labor side of college athletics caught the president's attention.
“College athletes are a central part of American culture,” former Georgia Bulldog and NFL player Keith Marshall said. “There’s a lot of conversation about it. And making sure that college athletes are protected and put in an environment where they’re getting what they deserve and are taken care of long-term, I think it fits in line with some of the larger labor considerations he had. He seemed genuinely interested.”
The last thing college athletics needs is for the Biden administration to get its hands on things. You know that labor organization is what this crop of Democrats would recommend, and making athletes beholden to unions would ruin college sports.
I don't want Donald Trump — or Ron DeSantis or any other Republican — to get the federal government involved in college sports either. This isn't an issue for the federal government, particularly the executive branch.
Sure, there are plenty of problems that the NCAA, conferences, and schools need to work out, but the last thing we need is for those things to become a federal issue. Make it stop now before the White House ruins college athletics.
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