The dream of playing sports professionally is the goal that many young athletes strive towards.

Last weekend, 253 hopeful college football athletes got the dream of a lifetime by receiving a call from an NFL general manager telling the athlete they were a draft pick of an NFL team.

In June, the NBA makes the dream possible for 60 college athletes and international players when they have their draft and potentially lure athletes from finishing their degrees.

The MLB draft also happens in June where high school athletes have the option to find a career instead of furthering their education while in college.

MLB allows high school graduates to enter professional baseball if they choose and usually sign if they are drafted by a major league club.

In comparison, college athletes could be one of the possible 1300 players selected to go into an MLB farm system and have the opportunity to make a big league roster.

Athletes want to be paid, and they want their money now. With the “one and done” motto in NCAA basketball, the sights are set high on betraying a college for one year of academics to sign that big check in the pros.

College athletes should be paid and given the glory for their hard work on the gridiron and the hard court.

The NCAA generates money and revenue from ticket sales, merchandise and video games.

Why is it fair for the NCAA to use these athletes as guinea pigs to generate massive profits while completely cutting the athletes out of the deal

It’s not right for the NCAA to use the images of athletes and showcase them all over the US and not give them a piece of the action.

One of the best ESPN 30 for 30’s that displayed these features was in “The Fab Five.” It told the story of the University of Michigan from the early 1990’s where five freshmen basketball players permanently changed the culture of college athletics.

After some of the star players left that program and joined the NBA, allegations came out about players who received improper benefits, such as money and automobiles.

This was a big dispute because it violated NCAA rules.

As a result of the investigation by the NCAA, Michigan had to vacate all of the wins that occurred when those athletes were on the men’s basketball team and took away the Final Four banners that were also earned in that time.

Although other college programs have been caught giving out improper benefits to athletes, that had one of the biggest impacts in college basketball.

Instead of taking accomplishments away from athletic programs, the NCAA needs to man up and just pay the players already.

The NCAA has the right mentality of trying to keep their athletic programs clean, but this still goes on in almost every top athletic program that appeals to top recruits.

Coaches and athletes have always denied improper benefits, but we don’t see any of the allegations until the players are long gone.

If college athletes were able to get paid, it could possibly make the athletes want to stay in college in order to finish their education.

It would teach them life lessons and how to become an adult in our society, and they would have an education field to fall back on if their professional sports career doesn’t work out.

Overall, college athletes should be rewarded for their accomplishments on the field and finishing their academics in entirety. Let them become adults!