Depending on your perspective, college football’s current landscape when it comes to paying players is either too radical or doesn’t go far enough. From my perspective, the conversation is on the goal line and wishes a little push. Thank goodness for former NFL linebacker Reggie Bush recreating one in all his most iconic players game.

Bush’s final push is lawsuit against his alma mater, USC, the PAC-12 and the NCAA, looking for damages for the usage of his name, image and likeness during his time with this system. According to Bush’s lawsuit, these entities continually made money from him – while he was a student-athlete, an NFL player and beyond.

Bush’s attorneys also said in a press release that after Bush left USC to play within the NFL, the three entities continued to financially profit from his popularity “without any recognition of his contributions.”

“This case is not just about seeking justice for Reggie Bush,” said Evan Selik, one in all the lawyers representing Bush. “This is about setting a precedent for fair treatment for all college athletes. Our goal is to right this injustice and pave the way for a system where athletes are rightly recognized, rewarded and treated fairly for their contributions.”

Today’s gamers could make decisions that previous generations lacked. UNLV quarterback Matt Sluka and point guard Michael Allen announced they’ll redshirt and be out for the remainder of the yr on account of a NIL dispute.

“I committed to UNLV based on certain representations made to me that were not maintained after my enrollment” – Sluka published on X. “Despite the discussions, it has become clear that these commitments will not be implemented in the future. I wish my teammates all the best this season and look forward to continued success in the program.”

Sluka has the leverage and subsequently the conviction to make this very difficult decision: give me my money or I won’t attack. However, if Sluka was promised something and didn’t receive it, it’s an injustice just like what Bush’s lawyer described.

Injustice. Now we’re talking. Paying college players is not just a labor rights issue – it’s a civil rights issue.

In 2022The National College Players Association has filed a civil rights grievance with the U.S. Department of Education against Division I schools. “This multibillion-dollar sports enterprise imposes discriminatory practices that disproportionately harm Black athletes while mostly white coaches and administrators earn millions of dollars,” Ramogi Huma, the association’s executive director, said in a statement.

The concept of the “student-athlete” was created by the NCAA within the Nineteen Fifties to avoid having to treat college athletes as employees. Ray Dennison, a Fort Lewis A&M lineman, suffered a skull contusion during a game in 1955 and died. When his widow applied for the death profit, it was initially approved but was rejected on appeal. Why? Because Dennison was neither a “student” nor an “employee.”

What would the NCAA do to perpetuate the lie? Simple. Smear black athletes.

OJ Simpson, who worked at USC from 1967-68, was allowed to maintain his Heisman Trophy after he was convicted of armed robbery charges in 2008. Bush was stripped of the trophy for 14 years, only getting it back after The NIL made his excommunication an unquestionable hypocrisy. USC treated him like a pariah, though his highlights remain in our imaginations. Bush didn’t give the sport a black eye, he gave it a black eye – pride and distinction. NCAA prohibited the news can be black.

Michigan forward Chris Webber and his great five brothers suffered a similar fate on the university after it was discovered that he and 4 other players had borrowed $616,000 from Michigan State coach Ed Martin. Webber first said he had no financial relationship with Martin, but then said he had borrowed money from him. They were crushed when the university initiated a long separation from the group missed victories and imposed sanctions on itself in 2002. Mary Sue Coleman, then the university’s president, called it a “day of great shame.” Webber responded to college sanctions saying, “It was just heartbreaking because we gave everything to Michigan. They recruited us, asked us to come there, and we wanted to.”

The rhetoric about “unacceptable benefits” has never convinced me identical to Jalen Rose and Webber’s comment An ESPN documentary during which the 2 lamented that they didn’t receive a dime from T-shirt sales. Like Bush, the Fab Five were icons, and the true crime was their inability to money in on their fame.

When Cam Newton was Auburn’s quarterback – should you’ll let opposing SEC fans say it back then – he was a cheater. The truth is that, like Michigan coach Ed Martin, Cecil Newton, Cam Newton’s father, saw through the student-athlete’s lie. According to the documents, Cecil Newton and former Mississippi State player Kenny Rogers demanded between $120,000 and $180,000 for the Bulldogs quarterback to contract, but didn’t ask every other school for money. “Cecil Newton’s Gap” which allowed Cam Newton to play in Auburn’s 2010 national championship game became a legend (or a lie, depending on your viewpoint) and, after initial uncertainty, was deemed eligible to play.

From my perspective, there was one other lie beyond the student-athlete narrative.

While Newton, the Fab Five and Bush were criticized, quarterback Johnny Manziel, who played at Texas A&M, was respected though his father had the identical forward-thinking philosophy as Cecil Newton. Manziel won the Heisman Trophy as a freshman in 2012, which earned him $37 million in media coverage, based on the Netflix documentary. Texas A&M raised a record $740 million in donations through the fiscal yr Manziel won the Heisman, which was $300 million greater than he ever raised.

“It’s spring 2014, December 2013.” Manziel said on the show episode Shannon Sharpe Podcast. “I’m preparing to make a decision if I’m going to enter the NFL draft or stay… My dad went to fulfill Kevin Sumlin. And I actually reached out to him personally and said, “We’ll take $3 million and stay for the next two years.” The university turned them down and Manziel declared for the NFL draft.

In my opinion, Bush should not be the one player demanding compensation for ZERO money lost.

Some see the NIL era as opening Pandora’s box, but evil has already been built into the language of not paying college athletes. Maybe it is the three-letter acronym NIL, which stands for name, image and likeness, but I still don’t see zero within the proposition of paying players because those funds are paid by third parties, not schools, conferences or the NCAA.

This is mental dishonesty at best and blatant robbery at worst.

However, Pandora’s Box will not be only a story about evil, but additionally about hope. How fitting that the story began with a basketball player from USC’s rival, UCLA. Forward Ed O’Bannon took on the NCAA and won in 2014 when a the judge ruled that the NCAA cannot stop players from selling the rights to their name, image and likeness, which might pave the best way for NCAA Policy Change in 2021.

Now, in line with the familiar promotion, Bush has finally pulled as much as The Heisman House. But that is not enough. He wants the entire neighborhood and I hope a few of his famous brothers follow suit.