[teejers1]

More than anything else this thread convinced me we really, really need an NFL sponsored D-League.  

We need an option for talented players who want to play ball but view the rest of college (mandatory classwork, dorm life, school commitments, etc) as a nuisance with limited value.  If you are enduring college for a chance at professional sports then of course you want to be paid - you don't value the quid-pro-quo on offer and the money generated by big time sports is evident all around you.  To that person NCAA sports looks like indentured servitude. 

Of course to others it looks like the opportunity of a lifetime.  

The NFL has floated upon the free player development provided by the NCAA for at least 50 years.  There is no viable argument saying they don't have the money to make a d-league happen.  They've been supported by a free system which births well-known/hyped, well trained, and talented players into their league every year.  On the flip-side colleges are the only apprenticeship available if you want to play in the NFL.  (I'd guess NCAA alumni make up >98% of the NFL roster spots with the exceptions being over-seas kickers.)

We need an NFL sponsored D-League - so do the players.

Math is the reason a D League for the NFL is unrealistic.  There simply are not enough players to fill the number of rosters required to create a league.

Most colleges are not going to walk away from good players if their academics are marginal or better.  And those players are not going to give up the opportunity to play in front of tens of thousands of people at the same time their games are on national TV.  Therefore, only the mediocre players and those with horrible transcripts would go to the D League.  Why would the NFL want to sponsor a league full of players who have little or no chance of making it to the League?

This is how an football D-League could happen:

1.  The NCAA stands up to the NFL and starts making decisions that treat the football players more like regular students . . . not less.  For starters, impose LESS demands on these kids time-wise in college.  A lot less.  Start with prohibiting things like spring ball (seriously).  It gets lax enough, then the NFL might say "eff it, these kids aren't training as well as we need them to," and then the NFL will start a small D-League for training purposes and will offer some $$ to come play/train there.

2.  The advocates of "pay the exploited players" we see popping up right now can advocate for a D-league; get some financial sponsors; go find lesser metropoli (heck, even smallish towns with rabid football fans might suffice), and then start luring HS kids there (with the almighty $$ as the lure) and get it set up that way.  A little entrepreneurship here could go a long way, particularly if the NFL is seen as sympatico.  I imagine the NFL would welcome such a thing; might even pitch in to get it going (or at least certainly not oppose it like they did XFL and other iterations of pro football leagues).

But it all starts with the NCAA treating the kids more like students and not football players.

The D League doesn't have to be 32 teams like the NFL; they could have half that many teams (or even a quarter).

[teejers1]

More than anything else this thread convinced me we really, really need an NFL sponsored D-League.  

We need an option for talented players who want to play ball but view the rest of college (mandatory classwork, dorm life, school commitments, etc) as a nuisance with limited value.  If you are enduring college for a chance at professional sports then of course you want to be paid - you don't value the quid-pro-quo on offer and the money generated by big time sports is evident all around you.  To that person NCAA sports looks like indentured servitude. 

Of course to others it looks like the opportunity of a lifetime.  

The NFL has floated upon the free player development provided by the NCAA for at least 50 years.  There is no viable argument saying they don't have the money to make a d-league happen.  They've been supported by a free system which births well-known/hyped, well trained, and talented players into their league every year.  On the flip-side colleges are the only apprenticeship available if you want to play in the NFL.  (I'd guess NCAA alumni make up >98% of the NFL roster spots with the exceptions being over-seas kickers.)

We need an NFL sponsored D-League - so do the players.

Math is the reason a D League for the NFL is unrealistic.  There simply are not enough players to fill the number of rosters required to create a league.

Most colleges are not going to walk away from good players if their academics are marginal or better.  And those players are not going to give up the opportunity to play in front of tens of thousands of people at the same time their games are on national TV.  Therefore, only the mediocre players and those with horrible transcripts would go to the D League.  Why would the NFL want to sponsor a league full of players who have little or no chance of making it to the League?

This is how an football D-League could happen:

1.  The NCAA stands up to the NFL and starts making decisions that treat the football players more like regular students . . . not less.  For starters, impose LESS demands on these kids time-wise in college.  A lot less.  Start with prohibiting things like spring ball (seriously).  It gets lax enough, then the NFL might say "eff it, these kids aren't training as well as we need them to," and then the NFL will start a small D-League for training purposes and will offer some $$ to come play/train there.

2.  The advocates of "pay the exploited players" we see popping up right now can advocate for a D-league; get some financial sponsors; go find lesser metropoli (heck, even smallish towns with rabid football fans might suffice), and then start luring HS kids there (with the almighty $$ as the lure) and get it set up that way.  A little entrepreneurship here could go a long way, particularly if the NFL is seen as sympatico.  I imagine the NFL would welcome such a thing; might even pitch in to get it going (or at least certainly not oppose it like they did XFL and other iterations of pro football leagues).

But it all starts with the NCAA treating the kids more like students and not football players.

The D League doesn't have to be 32 teams like the NFL; they could have half that many teams (or even a quarter).