The bold, unprecedented move this week by UNLV starting quarterback Matthew Sluka to leave an unbeaten team before using up his redshirt year — citing through his agent that an assistant coach verbally promised him at least $100,000 to sign with the Rebels and never got paid — is another sign of how college football is choking on its own greed.
Whether it’s FSU and Clemson threatening to leave the ACC because they’re not getting enough revenue for their brand, schools like Oklahoma and Texas leaving for the filthy-rich SEC or players now bolting for reneged promises of payment, college football is saturated with everybody wanting a bigger slice of the pie.
Now in Sluka’s case, if agent Marcus Cromartie’s claim to ESPN is correct and a UNLV assistant made a promise in which the school couldn’t deliver, the alleged $100K offer is chump change compared to what NIL collectives at many Power 4 schools are giving a starting QB.
Still, it underscores where the college football landscape is likely headed at some point: toward being a professional sport, where players are treated as paid employees with their own labor union.
UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka runs the ball against Kansas safety O.J. Burroughs during a recent game.
No matter how long it takes for that scenario to happen, you can bet there’ll be more chaos involving players all over the country like what happened with Sluka, who transferred to UNLV after four years at Holy Cross.
Before Sluka dropped his bombshell — leaving a UNLV program that is 3-0 and considered a strong Group of 5 contender for the College Football Playoff — USC learned that defensive tackle Bear Alexander is also leaving the program in a dispute about playing time.
Alexander expected to be a starter, but when he was a rotational player in USC’s first three games, his…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/unlv-qb-leaving-over-alleged-091017250.html
Author : The Florida Times-Union
Publish date : 2024-09-27 09:10:17
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
