There were other factors but what totally turned me against the NCAA is that the athletic scholarships are renewable every year. If you're hurt or are spending too much time in the classroom then your scholarship might not be renewed.

Sure, that's not going to affect healthy star players. But if you have something that really would be suited to rest or you want to take a tough course load, well, maybe they'll let you "red shirt" and maybe they won't. You still count against the scholarship limit.

If we could go back in time, maybe every town would have its football team and those teams could be promoted and relegated like many soccer teams. Players would be paid to play. Instead the college and university teams fill the need for people to have a local team.