Former NFL star J.J. Watt referred to as out the NCAA on Monday for referring to collegiate athletes as college students first.
Watt, in a put up on X, pointed to the cash the group makes, the arrival of title, picture and likeness (NIL), the switch portal and the cross-country journey groups must make.
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Arizona Cardinals defensive finish J.J. Watt, #99, reacts after a loss to the Patriots at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Dec. 12, 2022. (Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK)
“In some unspecified time in the future the NCAA wants to drop the ‘student first, athlete second’ charade,” the previous Wisconsin Badgers star wrote. “Billions of dollars, NIL, transfer portal (free agency), traveling cross-country for midweek games…
“Schooling shouldn’t be the principle focus. Admit it and name it what it’s. A enterprise. Run it as such.”
When one X user noticed that Watt’s point seemed to only refer to the best players in the best programs, Watt agreed.
“That’s precisely my level,” Watt added. “We’ve obtained youngsters who aren’t ‘making money’ and can by no means go professional, but they’re touring throughout the nation midweek for ‘conference games,’ transferring faculties, sacrificing research for sport, and so forth. None of that is about what’s doing greatest for the coed.”
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Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman J.J. Watt, #99, comes onto the field prior to a game against the Patriots at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Dec. 12, 2022. (Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Many college coaches in the NCAA ranks have echoed Watt’s point.
Former Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban ripped the treatment of NIL in college sports in February 2024.
“What we have now now shouldn’t be faculty soccer — not faculty soccer as we all know it. You hear any individual use the phrase ‘student-athlete.’ That does not exist,” Saban said in an interview with ESPN.
He added that collectives in college sports had “nothing to do with title, picture and likeness.”
ESPN analyst Nick Saban before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in MIami on Jan. 9, 2025. (Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)
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“Identical to an NFL participant has a contract or a coach has a contract, one thing in place, so you do not have all this raiding of rosters and mass motion,” he said. “I’m wondering what followers are going to say once they do not even know the group from yr to yr as a result of there is not any growth of groups, simply bringing in new gamers yearly.”
Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
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