A high selection in the MLB draft (64th pick overall). Will Lonnie stay or go?
A year ago I would say it's a no brainer that this kid is gonna sign the baseball contract...With this new rule change allowing these kids to sign endorsement deals in college he may make more money over his 4 year career at Penn State if he is indeed that good...He certainly could do double duty and play baseball at Penn State and be drafted again...This certainly isn't a slam dunk that this kid is gonna sign with the Pirates...
Is there any way, given today's changing rules on amateurism. allowing college athletes to reap financial benefits & NCAA wishy-washyness,
that he could possibly do both? Assuming he could get approval from the Pirates org. & Franklin. Just asking.
Is there any way, given today's changing rules on amateurism. allowing college athletes to reap financial benefits & NCAA wishy-washyness,
that he could possibly do both? Assuming he could get approval from the Pirates org. & Franklin. Just asking.
Players have been able to do both for years, Kyler Murray comes to mind. He signed a contract with the A's that gave him a roughly 5 million dollar bonus, and after that still played for the Sooners during his junior year.
It's completely allowed to do both, and has been for some time. This is one of the things that lead to the name, image, and likeness changes we just saw... Players and others felt it was unfair that Murray could make that type of money playing another sport, but someone else playing football wasn't allowed to go on YouTube and make money that way... because the NCAA deemed it "using their popularity from football to generate revenue".
Another person who comes to mind is Bloom from Colorado. He was a Skier who had endorsements, and the NCAA said that made him ineligible for football. Even though his endorsement were for skiing, they could still tie his "popularity" in some way to football therefore it wasn't allowed.
This is why, IMO, the name, image, and likeness stuff happened. The NCAA was so ridiculous in what it did and didn't allow that it made zero sense. Now, everything is allowed because people got tired of the nonsense.
I think in the end you hope for what works out best for the kid and in todays age, I think it's, take the money; I don't like it but it's a hard sell to sell loyalty, commitment, delayed gratification, etc.. when those very moral fibers are being unraveled by social media and competing agendas. A lot of pressure on kids now days. Not a soap box, just the evolution of progress.
I think in the end you hope for what works out best for the kid and in todays age, I think it's, take the money; I don't like it but it's a hard sell to sell loyalty, commitment, delayed gratification, etc.. when those very moral fibers are being unraveled by social media and competing agendas. A lot of pressure on kids now days. Not a soap box, just the evolution of progress.
I don't see it as an either or thing. To me, there are shades of grey.
My meaning is, I don't think a kid is disloyal or not committed to a school if he also wants to make money based on his own likeness outside of the team. To me, a kid can be a hard worker, loyal, and committed to the team while also endorsing Nike, some IT firm, or making money on YouTube.
It's not either/or to me.
Thanks for the clarification, Roam. I just can't get a handle on when a player is considered a pro and not an amateur. I guess I'm hung up on what happened to poor ol' Jim Thorpe.
