Coming out of high school athletes should be able to enter the draft and start their career off with a running start.
A major conflict in sports is the fact that athletes should be required to enter into college for at least one year because they do not possess the maturity nor the physical tools that require them to go about life. The argument is that playing at the collegiate level gives them this opportunity while teaching them life skills and learning new things as well before pursuing their passion.
I think the NBA/NFL shouldn’t make college a requirement because I think athletes at that skill level should be able to make their own decisions and control the outcome of their life. Athletes, like Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, came out of high school and look at their legacy. If the player goes to college and hurts himself that could be the end of his bright career, so the way I see it, players shouldn’t go to college because they don’t get paid on injuries.
In terms of money when a player gets hurt in college for his one year of play he doesn’t get anything for that except for medical treatment and a possibility of hearing the words “sorry son you can’t play again,” and that is the worst feeling. Now if you were to get hurt during your rookie season, your contract is structured to help the risk factor of the team and you are still getting paid.
The NCAA in my opinion is a broken system. Instead of working their way into the pros where they make tons of money for themselves, they are forced into a system where they cannot get paid, cannot make money off of promotions and their names, and cannot get an outside job to provide for themselves.
At the end of the day education should never be questioned, but if people can drop out of college to pursue a dream why can’t athletes forgo their college education to make their dream come true?