Marcus Lattimore Done With Football, Still Set For Life

Anonymous00011 years ago

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]

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