- If this college football nonsense continues to escalate, a cataclysmic battle in court between the NFL and college football lies in our future. As college football's leadership continues to show us all their end game (suck up as much money as possible into their bank accounts) sooner or later a couple of them (and it will spread quickly among other teams) will come to the conclusion that the NFL is not really needed. It is then that the 32 NFL owners and all of the billions of dollars that their league generates will come together and realize that their livelihood is in danger.
I know that it sounds far fetched, but is it really? Think about it. College football has already become a professional sports league. The players are already being paid for everything that their agents (sorry NCAA, their representatives) tell them that should be getting paid some money to do. Everything from being paid to make an official visit to a school, to their negotiated salary (NIL) for that upcoming season. College football IS a professional sports league.
What is to stop, say the Power 5 schools from banding together and take that next step towards to the land of NFL type money for their programs? Nothing.
While the first 10-20 years of the transitioning from an amateur to professional sports model might be a little troublesome, after that the new professional sports league would be up and running smoothly. Just imagine a professional football league with teams from the states like Alabama, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, etc... Schools will realize that they do not need to lose their players after they graduate, just pay them larger amounts of money and keep them together in the new professional league. I mean, most of the Power 5 schools, already have their own stadiums (not saying a word abut Pitt) and most have fan bases that are as large, if not larger then the average NFL team. Imagine a University of Alabama professional sports team with current NFL Super Stars on it like...QB Jalen Hurts, a backfield of RB Derrick Henry and RB Najee Harris, WR corps of DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and Amari Cooper. The attendance at games would be phenomenal. Fans would become even more loyal to their schools then they are now. Those Super Star athletes their schools have developed will be with their teams until they retire, the money coming into the schools would be incredible and since that is all that the colleges seem concerned about it makes perfect sense. I know it sounds foolish, but is it really?
- Now I do not know Kenny Pickett personally, he does seem to be a rather laid back kind of guy. He doesn't come across as the type of player, especially as a rookie player, who is going to come into a new situation and buck the system in place. By that I mean, if he is being told by his new HC (Tomlin) and his new OC (Canada) to play the game a certain way, he is going to play the game the way he is being told to do. We have all heard Tomlin and Canada talking about having Kenny Pickett be smart with the ball, don't put the ball at risk, take the low risk throws, etc... . This is what Pickett did, it did not work as planned. It was (and still is) a pathetic 2023 NFL offense. while other QB's are going out and throwing 30-35 times a game and putting up 30+ points on a regular basis, the Steelers were playing 1990's NFL football. Pickett's stats looked terrible when compared to other NFL QB's and they were. The Steelers offense looked pathetic and it was. It was not Pickett's fault. That blame, all 100% of it, lies at the feet of Tomlin and Canada. The reason Pickett looked so good in those 4th quarter drives was, he was just being an athlete during those drives and making decisions based upon what he saw, not what he was being told to do. For any one who thinks that Mason Rudolph is the answer, I ask you this...is a QB who is 17-19 and throws for 81 yards, having a good game? For me, those stats would not indicate a good game. By the way, those stats were Mason Rudolph's if you remove the 71 yard TD pass to Johnson against the Ravens.
I know that it sounds far fetched, but is it really? Think about it. College football has already become a professional sports league. The players are already being paid for everything that their agents (sorry NCAA, their representatives) tell them that should be getting paid some money to do. Everything from being paid to make an official visit to a school, to their negotiated salary (NIL) for that upcoming season. College football IS a professional sports league.
What is to stop, say the Power 5 schools from banding together and take that next step towards to the land of NFL type money for their programs? Nothing.
While the first 10-20 years of the transitioning from an amateur to professional sports model might be a little troublesome, after that the new professional sports league would be up and running smoothly. Just imagine a professional football league with teams from the states like Alabama, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, etc... Schools will realize that they do not need to lose their players after they graduate, just pay them larger amounts of money and keep them together in the new professional league. I mean, most of the Power 5 schools, already have their own stadiums (not saying a word abut Pitt) and most have fan bases that are as large, if not larger then the average NFL team. Imagine a University of Alabama professional sports team with current NFL Super Stars on it like...QB Jalen Hurts, a backfield of RB Derrick Henry and RB Najee Harris, WR corps of DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and Amari Cooper. The attendance at games would be phenomenal. Fans would become even more loyal to their schools then they are now. Those Super Star athletes their schools have developed will be with their teams until they retire, the money coming into the schools would be incredible and since that is all that the colleges seem concerned about it makes perfect sense. I know it sounds foolish, but is it really?
- Now I do not know Kenny Pickett personally, he does seem to be a rather laid back kind of guy. He doesn't come across as the type of player, especially as a rookie player, who is going to come into a new situation and buck the system in place. By that I mean, if he is being told by his new HC (Tomlin) and his new OC (Canada) to play the game a certain way, he is going to play the game the way he is being told to do. We have all heard Tomlin and Canada talking about having Kenny Pickett be smart with the ball, don't put the ball at risk, take the low risk throws, etc... . This is what Pickett did, it did not work as planned. It was (and still is) a pathetic 2023 NFL offense. while other QB's are going out and throwing 30-35 times a game and putting up 30+ points on a regular basis, the Steelers were playing 1990's NFL football. Pickett's stats looked terrible when compared to other NFL QB's and they were. The Steelers offense looked pathetic and it was. It was not Pickett's fault. That blame, all 100% of it, lies at the feet of Tomlin and Canada. The reason Pickett looked so good in those 4th quarter drives was, he was just being an athlete during those drives and making decisions based upon what he saw, not what he was being told to do. For any one who thinks that Mason Rudolph is the answer, I ask you this...is a QB who is 17-19 and throws for 81 yards, having a good game? For me, those stats would not indicate a good game. By the way, those stats were Mason Rudolph's if you remove the 71 yard TD pass to Johnson against the Ravens.
