Last week, journalist Rob Parker called Deion Sanders a “sellout” for taking part in an advert promoting the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA).
asserted
Parker → call → Act
The “sellout” label is harsh, but reflects how disappointing it is for many people to see Sanders stumping for a bill that will hurt athletes.
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that → reflect → athletes
The major points of contention around the PCSA, which the Senate passed last week and now awaits approval from the House, are a ceiling of around $49m that schools can direct to athletes, as well as a new transfer rule that would, except in a few specific circumstances, restrict players to one “free” transfer (if they move schools again, they’d have to wait a year to play for their next team).
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they → pass → team
Former NFL player Domonique Foxworth has said that “the core of [the PCSA] is about reestablishing the power the NCAA had in the past – that the court system determined was illegal”.
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system → say → past
Sanders takes a different approach.
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Sanders → take → approach
In his pro-PCSA ad, he notes, “As a coach and father, I’m helping the next generation find their spotlight.
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generation → note → spotlight
That’s why I support the Protect College Sports Act.
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I → ’ → Act
It gives student-athletes a chance to shine on and off the field, strengthens historically Black colleges and universities, and keeps both men’s and women’s sports strong.
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It → give → sports
That feels like a vague word salad used to shroud his true intentions.
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That → feel → intentions
Sanders, like PCSA booster Nick Saban and other coaches, appears to be trying to take back control from players.
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Sanders → appear → players
Student-athletes have more freedom than ever with name, image and likeness (NIL) deals and the transfer portal.
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athletes → have → deals
In June, Sanders told reporter Baker Machado that, “I do believe that college athletes should be compensated for their name, image and likeness.
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athletes → tell → name
But it’s not about name, image and likeness right now.
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it → ’ → name
It’s just about pay-per-view.”
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It → ’ → view
Four years earlier, when he was coach at Jackson State, he had lamented that NIL deals turn NCAA athletes into “professionals”, saying “you don’t have staffs large enough and equipped enough to handle a young man with money.”
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you → lament → money
The PCSA would not end or cap NIL, but it would mean players would have to prove the deal was worth approximately what a figure of the same standing would earn for a similar endorsement.
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figure → end → endorsement
Deals would need to be proven to have a genuine commercial purpose, something that could end deals that effectively pay students athletes to play.
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that → need → athletes
Sanders’s comments echo Saban’s assertion that NIL “created an environment with no control, no guardrails”.
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NIL → echo → control
The former Alabama coach added: “Now you’ve got transfers that are out of control.
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that → add → control
You’ve got salaries that are out of control.
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that → get → control
You’ve got budgets that are out of control.”
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that → get → control
But Saban said nothing about coaches’ salaries being out of control; he made more than $121m during his 17-year tenure at Alabama.
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he → say → Alabama
Sanders, who earns $10m a year, is the highest-paid head coach in the Big 12.
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who → earn → 12
Meanwhile Colorado’s athletic department had a $27m deficit in the last fiscal year, partly due to Sanders’s huge salary.
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department → have → salary
While the PCSA has a “Lane Kiffin rule” that keeps coaches from jumping teams in the same season, there’s no cap on coaching salaries or buyouts.
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that → have → salaries
The players are the reason why the NCAA grosses more than $1bn in revenue a year, but this act unfairly targets athletes’ earnings potential.
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act → gross → potential
It’s disappointing to see Sanders, who is idolized by Black athletes after his brilliant football career, appear to be such a hypocrite.
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who → ’ → career
In his 2011 NFL Hall of Fame induction speech, the former cornerback was candid about his mother’s financial woes when he was growing up.
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he → grow → woes
He added that his brash “Prime Time” persona came from economic necessity: “Cornerbacks, running backs, linebackers, defensive backs weren’t paid a lot.
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Cornerbacks → add → lot
And in my dormitory room at Florida State, I created this image …
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I → create → image
You could love him or you could hate him, but he was Prime Time.”
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he → love → him
He now laments that NIL has turned the NCAA into “a business”, but “Prime Time” was a business decision.
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Time → lament → business
Does he expect anyone to believe that he would have passed on an endorsement deal to support his mother when he was at college?
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he → expect → college
Sanders’s stance reminds me of Michael Jordan, then owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, reportedly advocating for NBA players to get just 47% of the league’s basketball-related income during the 2011 lockout.
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players → remind → lockout
(The final figure ended up being 51.2% for the 2011-12 season.)
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figure → end → season
Years before, he told then-Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin, “If you can’t make it work economically, you should sell the team,” during the 1998 lockout.
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you → tell → lockout
(Jordan didn’t take his own advice until 2023 when he sold his majority stake.)
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he → take → stake
The reverence for Sanders among athletes isn’t far off the respect paid to Jordan.
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reverence → pay → Jordan
That’s why it was particularly disappointing to see Jordan, and now Sanders, lose solidarity with their peers once they became part of the management machine.
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they → ’ → machine
Deion “Prime Time” Sanders made a braggadocious 1994 rap song called Must Be the Money.
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Sanders → make → song
…and 31 more, not listed.
The Aporia
