Opinion: College football’s struggle is nothing new
· Yahoo Sports
Nearly 100 years ago, near the end of 1926, newspaper readers in America were presented with a diatribe, of sorts, by Frank G. Menke, a sports writer syndicated by King Features Syndicate.
The subject: How college football had gone from clean competition to big business.
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He didn’t sugarcoat the state of the game.
“The nauseating feature of it all is the hypocrisy still practiced by the colleges in trying to make folks think that collegiate football of today is still a ‘sport’ whereas every bit of evidence proves that it’s nothing other than a gigantic commercialized venture in which colleges use their students to enrich their coffers millions of dollars annually,” he said.
Menke argued that professional baseball and boxing were cleaner. “For in each of those, the worker who risks serious injury or possible death is at least rewarded with pay. … He is not placed in the role of a slave to do a master’s bidding under the whiplash of ‘for your Alma Mater.’”
Among other things, he noted that Maj. Frank Cavanaugh had just been hired to coach Fordham University for $25,000 a year. This, he said, was an “unbelievable salary,” noting that professors of worthwhile subjects were not paid anything close to that. (I obtained access to old newspapers through newspapers.com.)
I wonder what Menke, who died in 1954, would think about the game today? A $25,000 salary in 1926 would equal only a little less than a half-million today, which isn’t much. A report from the office of Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said coaches’ salaries increased by 370% between 2005 and 2023.
However, he probably would be pleased to know that college athletes are finally getting paid. I doubt, however, he thought through that idea enough to foresee players constantly jumping ship to the next school with the highest bid, nor could he have conceived of some players entering the millionaires’ club for playing the game.
The Protect College Sports Act
Jett Burton, 4, left, son of Brandon Burton, Wide Receivers Assistant, and Ace Bumphis, 3, right, son of Chad Bumphis, Wide Receivers coach, watch the Utah Utes warm up for a football game against the Utah State Aggies at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret NewsMore importantly, would Menke support the Protect College Sports Act, which passed the Senate by an overwhelming and bipartisan majority this week, 77-22? (Both Utah senators voted in favor.)
I hope so, or at least that he would have supported the ongoing struggle.
The Senate version of the bill would limit undergraduates to one free transfer between schools. Each subsequent one would require sitting out a year. Agents could be compensated no more than 5% for handling student contracts. Schools would have uniform health and safety guidelines.
Conferences could pool their media rights, and they would be able to grow to no more than 20 schools to prevent so-called “super leagues.” There could be caps on athlete pay and revenue sharing. A school that wants to jump from one power conference to another would have to play as an independent for three seasons first.
Clearly, recent court decisions and rule changes have created a college-athletics mess some have likened to the Wild West. The bill would rein in much of that.
And yet, despite strong bipartisan support in the Senate and endorsements from President Donald Trump, the bill’s fate in the House is uncertain. Some opponents say it would hurt Black athletes, reducing their bargaining rights. Others, as the Deseret News reported, just don’t think the government should be so involved.
I began by quoting Menke’s column because it illustrates how old some of these issues are.
A century ago
By 1926, Ohio State already had built the 66,210-seat stadium it still uses today (it seats many more now). The Yale Bowl, seating 70,896, already was 12 years old (it seats fewer today). Big, wealthy schools already were seeking advantages over their competition.
Television was decades away and radio had barely begun, but Menke and others were already calling college sports big business. The nation has been arguing about this for a long time. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep working to make things more fair.
In Europe and elsewhere, sports evolved along a system of clubs, completely separate from schools. But in the United States, college-based athletics has woven itself tightly into the cultural fabric, with loyal and energetic alumni and fans.
That’s just how it evolved, but frankly it’s a system worth saving. It has become important for national health.
Another 1926 news story reported legendary coach Glenn (Pop) Warner saying, “Football makes money … but if this money is used legitimately … its profits can be defended.”
That quest seems to sum up today’s struggle nicely.