The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has recently announced its acceptance of the newly proposed law that allows college athletes to be paid for their name, image, and likeness. This allows students to participate in collegiate competitions while also being employed by other companies and getting paychecks for showing off their great smiles.

These athletes are no longer getting noticed for their athletic performances, but just their image. Just how much people like them. Just their name. They no longer represent themselves, but their school, as the face of the program.

They are the face of a company.

Next time you see an ad with your favorite athlete, you’ll want the product not for itself, but because you idolize who is promoting it.

Student athletes’ eligibility could be in jeopardy as well. These new rules have very small details that, if broken, could render an athlete ineligible to play for their college, or even work for a company. A student’s career could be ended in a snap.

Those paychecks that a student may be depending on could be snatched away instantly if they break any of the fine print, microscopic rules. If not named ineligible, then athletes could be fined.

Either one of these consequences could have devastating effects on a student athlete’s life, college experience, and even future job opportunities.

Even though some people say that paying athletes can only help their college and post-graduation life, I believe that it can hurt them without bounds.

What would happen if the athlete decided that they didn’t want to work for a business anymore? Would that make them unattractive to other companies? What if they broke a rule?

Their college experience- both athletically and academically- could be destroyed. They could be eliminated from their college sports roster, never to compete for their school again. How about the students that choose to attend a college specifically because of an athlete that gets paid for their sport?

Schools now have an unfair recruiting advantage purely because of the face of an athlete. Academics may be held to a lesser standard because of the athletics department.

In addition, students on scholarships will not have to pay a dime but will be paid a pretty penny for flashing their pearly whites for the camera. Many people even believe that students should not be given a limit to the amount of money they can be paid. But do you really think it’s fair for a student to be paid, say a full tuition every year, for their image? Their likeness? Why should someone get paid to go to a school that others must pay for, when their salary isn’t even for anything academic? It’s not helping the student financially.

No wonder the NCAA fought so hard to fight this law.