Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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MURPHY'S LAW DAN MURPHY letic department is also one of the best prepared for big chances because of the money it generates each year. "If it turns out that way, we're going to have a significant advantage over every program in the country," head coach Brian Kelly said in February. "I don't think we're dropping football anytime soon here. So we're going to pay compensation; we're going to pay all those things. I think our scholarship stands by itself, and add that to it, I think we're in a pretty good situation." Kelly went on to say he doesn't think the NCAA — especially its pub- lic school members — would ever al- low the union movement to get that far. And he's right. The powers that be would be crazy to stand by stub- bornly as their ideal of amateurism is completely wiped away. No school wants to deal with the messy questions raised by their ath- letes forming unions. No one wants Jimmy Hoffa walking through their locker rooms. Many of Northwestern's players have said they might not vote to form a union when the team decides in late April. Colter and company's success- ful pitch to become employees is a sign that the current student-athlete model is broken beyond repair. Sort- ing through the possible repercussions of what would happen if the players decide to unionize should make it very clear to both parties that it would be much better to sort through their issues outside of the courtroom. The NLRB decision is a bargaining chip for the players in that discussion. It sits on top of a stack that is rapidly growing as other lawsuits fighting for player compensation work their way through the legal system. The crux of the conflict is money. The millions of dollars that college athletics generates is drawing atten- tion to the system. But according to the labor specialist Fick, that money has no bearing on whether the players are considered employees or not. After all, a company that is going bankrupt still has employees. "That to me is a moral argument," she said. And in the moral court of public opinion, the NCAA still has a leg on which to stand. The money raised by football players is used for many good things beyond just lining the pockets of athletic directors and coaches. The overwhelming majority of players are compensated fairly for their contribu- tions to a program's success. Morally speaking, the NCAA still has a fighter 's chance. The problem is the real court system has no use for moral arguments. There is no way the current institution can survive in- tact through the barrage of lawsuits landed at its feet. If the NCAA leaders want to hang on to any semblance of the great tradi- tion that is college sports, they need to start compromising to give players at least some of what they want and deserve. They are out of options. It's time to start talking. ✦ Dan Murphy has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2011. He can be reached at dmurphy@blueandgold.com