[stupac2]

Also, totally agree with Ferrari's bigger point about athletes being forced into college.  NFL and NBA need to stop using college athletics as their only farm system.  Take a lesson from baseball and hockey: offer a legitimate minor league, + a university option for student-athletes who want the college experience.  I've held that opinion for a while now.

NBA has the D-League, but no one cares about it. I don't think this is a problem the leagues alone can solve, because the real appeal of college football and basketball is the glamor/glory involved. After all, basketball players can just play in Europe or the D-League for a year and get paid if they don't want to do college, but most of the top prospects still go to Kentucky or Duke or Kansas. Even if the NFL spent billions of dollars making a new minor league, I suspect that would still end up being true of football too.

[stupac2]

Also, totally agree with Ferrari's bigger point about athletes being forced into college.  NFL and NBA need to stop using college athletics as their only farm system.  Take a lesson from baseball and hockey: offer a legitimate minor league, + a university option for student-athletes who want the college experience.  I've held that opinion for a while now.

NBA has the D-League, but no one cares about it. I don't think this is a problem the leagues alone can solve, because the real appeal of college football and basketball is the glamor/glory involved. After all, basketball players can just play in Europe or the D-League for a year and get paid if they don't want to do college, but most of the top prospects still go to Kentucky or Duke or Kansas. Even if the NFL spent billions of dollars making a new minor league, I suspect that would still end up being true of football too.