Player association drafts contract for college athletes to sign with their schools
The National College Players Association has set up a contract that it says could protect athletes beyond the standard National Letter of Intent and allow athletes to know what stipends and insurance protections they’d be getting from their schools.
The contract is available for download on the NCPA site. The group says the contract is a legally-binding document called the College Athlete Protection Guarantee.
On the header of the contract, it says “you can request and secure legally binding protections/benefits worth over $100,000 dollars beyond a minimum scholarship without breaking NCAA rules. You need transparency on protections and benefits because coaches too often break verbal promises. Coaches themselves don’t rely on verbal promises from their college and neither should you. Use the CAP Guarantee to gain key physical, academic, and financial protections.”
Coaches blocking players’ transfers to certain schools is a practice that’s become common — even if it elicits backlash. Kansas State coach Bill Snyder was adamant wide receiver Corey Sutton wouldn’t be released from his letter of intent, though after Sutton spoke out and Snyder accused the wide receiver of failing drug tests, the school released him.
In 2016, former Alabama defensive back Maurice Smith said the school was preventing his graduate transfer to Georgia, where ex-Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart had been hired as head coach. After Smith protested, Alabama eventually relented and Smith played for the Bulldogs last season.
Per CBS, the contract will be unveiled Wednesday at the National Basketball Players Association Top 100 camp. It would cover athletes from all sports, not just football, and according to a former enforcement official from the NCAA, is a helpful guide for players and families.
“I think the biggest impact of the document could be it educates athletes and families about benefits to them that are not uniformly provided,” said Tim Nevius, a former NCAA enforcement official. “The ultimate benefit could be education, even if no one utilizes the document.”
The NCPA represented Northwestern players’ push for possible unionization when they were ruled to be employees at the school by the National Labor Relations board.
The contract would be signed by a representative of the athlete’s school and the athlete, or his or her parent/guardian if the player is under 18.
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It has a list of “possible protections” and benefits that include multi-year scholarships, stipend money, medical expenses and disability insurance along with freedom from transfer restrictions.
Further down after the list of protections, the school and athlete would agree to the details of them regarding the amount of the stipend, the years of the scholarship — many schools promise multi-year scholarships — and the percentage of medical expenses a school would be willing to pay.
The school would also have to check if it agrees or disagrees to release an athlete fulling if he or she wants to transfer.
We’re fascinated to see if a player decides to utilize the contract over the next few years. While it may not necessarily change an athlete’s relationship with a school significantly, it at least has the potential for athletes to get a four-year commitment from their universities.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
