Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll made a statement regarding the California Fair Pay to Play Act, a new law that allows NCAA student-athletes in the state of California to get compensated for their name and likeness, which is in direct opposition to the NCAA’s rules on amateurism.
Carroll, the former head coach at USC, joined Chris Peterson of the University of Washington and Mike Leach at Washington State University in supporting the NCAA’s long standing rules on amateurism, which don’t allow student-athletes to be paid, instead viewing full scholarships as adequate compensation.
“I don’t know the real depth to [the new law],” Carroll said. “I’ve never been the guy that feels players needed to be paid to play. I’ve felt like their scholarship and all the advantages that the guys got was always a pretty darn good deal. To me that sounds like it’s an adult situation trying to make sense of a kid’s experience, and so they’ve justified it.”
Carroll coached running back Reggie Bush at USC, who received improper benefits while in college that forced USC to vacate wins, including the 2005 Orange Bowl, and caused Bush to voluntarily give up his Heisman trophy.
Regardless, Carroll remains firm on his belief that the NCAA should not pay student-athletes beyond what is already given to them, although he admits his opinion could be wrong.
“I don’t know that it’s wrong, good for the kids and all, and if it’s the right thing then maybe the rest of the country adopts it,” Carroll continued. “I never thought that it was necessary. Even though there’s times that are tough for kids who don’t have a lot of money to take as incidental spending and stuff like that, when a kid’s on scholarship, he’s taken care of pretty well. They can make it.”
Carroll and the Seahawks will take on the Saints at CenturyLink Field on Sunday, Sep. 22 at 1:25 p.m. PT.
