Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel is set to appear on the upcoming cover of Time Magazine. Manziel is pictured as the poster-boy for a Time article, "It's Time To Pay College Athletes."
Less than a week after Manziel served a half-game suspension, Time announced on Thursday the reigning Heisman winner will be featured on its cover. Manziel was suspended for an "inadvertent violation" of NCAA rules, stemming from an investigation into whether the 20-year-old accepted payment for signing autographs.
The incident highlighted the question of whether student-athletes should be paid by the colleges that are making millions off them or, at the very least, be able to receive compensation for the use of their names or likenesses.
The NCAA didn't find any evidence of Manziel being paid by autograph brokers, but the quarterback accepted a half-game suspension so he could move on with the season.
Now Manziel is gracing the cover of a Time story advocating that college athletes should be paid.
Although Manziel hasn't spoken recently to the media, former college players have spoken out in favor of student-athletes being compensated beyond a scholarship - or at the least be able to profit from their name.
"[Manziel] should be able to sign as many autographs and make as much money as he wants because it's his name," Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant said in August, via SI.com. "I feel like he's the one who created it. He should be able to do [with it] whatever he feels as long as it's legal, and I don't think there's anything illegal about signing a picture of yourself and making money off it.
"Shoot, the NCAA is making money off of it when they're selling those No. 2 shirts. Why can't he make a little bit of money off of it?"
Minnesota Vikings running back and reigning NFL MVP Adrian Peterson, an ex-Oklahoma Sooner, echoed Bryant's sentiments.
"The universities are making a lot of money off of student-athletes in general," Peterson told FOX Sports, via SI.com. "So, yeah, he should be able to make money. I think so. They make millions off of these college athletes and they made millions off of the guys I played with as well. Yeah, he should be getting paid."
The counterargument is that student-athletes are making money by receiving scholarships. Whether it's fair compensation is another story, but some kind of change in the NCAA appears imminent.
