On an open market, a stud QB at the college level would easily draw six figures. Easily. Just look at what the allegations of pay-for-play were about with Cam Newton ($200K, which was a bargain in hindsight). Just look at all the dirty money being funneled to players and handlers in this college basketball FBI probe. And it's been going on forever.

The worth of these athletes, and I'm talking about the high-end ones, far exceeds what they are getting. For 95% of college athletes, maybe more, the scholarship deal is a pretty good one. I don't disagree with that. But the stars are absolutely not being compensated what they would if there were not artificial caps in place under the guise of "amateurism."

The fact that the NFL sets up no minor league system and requires three years out of high school for a player to enter its workforce makes the colleges de facto minor leagues. And colleges have had no qualms about cashing checks that are making administrators and coaches much richer. If colleges had said no thanks to that money and approached sports like they claim to do with all their student-athlete language, there'd be less outcry about it. But they cashed the checks. And in doing so, they deserve all the criticism they're getting.