Marcus Lattimore Done With Football, Still Set For Life
There are plenty of money issues when it comes to athletes. We have the debate over whether college athletes should be paid, there is the issue of bankruptcy among former players, and a lot of high profile kids are getting busted all the time for doing something as simple as selling an autograph. One thing that’s basically certain when it comes to money and college players is that if you were ever once a star of a major football program, you’ll never have to worry about employment again.
Marcus Lattimore is the latest example of the university job safety net. Lattimore, who has just notified the 49ers of his retirement from the NFL, has already been contacted by his former coach at South Carolina, Steve Spurrier, and been offered a job. Now, there aren’t any details of what this job will entail, how much it will pay, or whether Lattimore is even interested, but the song sounds the same. Vince Young comes to mind as a recent example of this. After never quite being able to string together a real career in the NFL, Texas brought Young back into the fold to work in a community outreach and youth interaction position for a nice, even $100,000 a year. That’s cool, although I’m not entirely sure a dude known for getting in fights at strip clubs and filing for bankruptcy after making $34 million in salary is really the best role model for first-generation college students from low-income backgrounds.
And then there are, of course, the dozens of former players who have returned to their alma maters in a coaching capacity. Just off the top of my head, you have head coaches like Kliff Kingsbury, Sean Kugler, David Shaw, and Mike Gundy. Not to mention, there are scores of coordinators and assistant coaches out there who have been brought back into the university bubble.
Is it fair that a player with enough collegiate success can go to the NFL knowing that no matter what happens to him, he’s guaranteed to have a safety net back home? I lean toward yes. After all, how much fucking money did South Carolina and Texas make off of Lattimore and Young, when neither player saw a dime? A powderpuff salary gig is the least they could do..
[via Houston Chronicle]
Image via YouTube
Football IS the American Dream and that is why overweight feminists are trying to dismantle it.
11 years ago at 10:26 am>overweight
>feminists
checks out
11 years ago at 10:47 amSo he gets a full ride (Tuition, Books, Housing, ect.) before deciding to leave school early, gets a signing bonus of $300,000 and then $1,700,000 in salary just to rehab his knee for two years before officially retiring from playing a game…and all people can talk about is how he got the raw end of the deal.
Meanwhile, most college students will be $80,000 in debt by the time they graduate with no safety net or back plan whatsoever.
Bit that’s none of my business…
11 years ago at 10:48 amBut*
11 years ago at 11:05 amDebt NF
Try snapping your leg like he did and you may feel grateful for an opportunity like this from the people who helped bring you up as a football player and a man.
11 years ago at 11:05 amWhile that’s still a nice chunk of change he made, it’s still not a whole lot considering if he hadn’t been injured he probably would have made at least 20 times as much. It was a tough break.
11 years ago at 11:43 amI’ll run some laps with you. I agree, the money the universities are making on football players is off the investment they put in them. Also, it’s the damn rules and the rule has always been there. It’s not like it changed and there is now an injustice committed against college footbal players. Annnnd no player is obviously ready to go from HS to the NFL, so along with a full ride he gets the development and resources he has to have as a player to even attempt the draft. I don’t see how this is still an issue…
11 years ago at 11:47 ambum leg or not, I’d love to watch Lattimore truck your ass.
11 years ago at 11:50 amSweet pic dude
11 years ago at 9:40 amIf an English student wanted to write a book and sell it, he could, no questions asked. But if a student-athlete wanted to sell his autograph just to have some money for food at night then all hell breaks loose. Tell me how that’s morally correct?
11 years ago at 12:23 pmWell as an Iowa State student you probably never seen a football player worth playing that was on your team.
11 years ago at 2:10 pmI would argue that …. But my only argument would be the only running back with back to back 2000 yard season in NCAA history, albeit on god awful teams, Troy Davis. Also the two greatest wrestlers of all time, who both won gold medals. But you’re right, no idea
11 years ago at 7:13 pmOr… Get a degree that pays, and don’t suck at school.
11 years ago at 9:33 pmSame argument as Michelle Obama complaining about not being paid. There’s more than enough perks to go around
11 years ago at 10:50 amMarcus Legnomore standing on a stack of cash. Must be nice
11 years ago at 11:09 am$100k/yr NF
11 years ago at 11:36 amHow much do you make?
11 years ago at 9:41 amGratefully going back to the cocks for the money. TSM?
11 years ago at 12:02 pmLeave it to Spurrier!
11 years ago at 12:54 pmGetting in fights at strip clubs and filing for bankruptcy after making $34 million in salary then getting a job running a youth community outreach program – TFM
11 years ago at 1:30 pmLatti is cut from a different mold. He had both his legs snapped at different times and gave the comeback everything he had. Cut him some slack.
11 years ago at 1:43 pmShouldn’t be in the same article with Young whose IQ is lower than his jersey number.
He won’t have a chance to save (blow) however many millions more he would’ve earned in his NFL career, but he’ll be walking when he’s 50.
11 years ago at 2:13 pm