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OU Football | Bob Stoops Sets The Internet Abuzz With His Take On 'Pay For Play'

By Jordan Esco Updated
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

UPDATE: Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman followed up with Bob Stoops after his comments regarding NCAA athletes getting paid spark a storm of self-righteous Internet "experts" to hop up on their collective soapboxes. Well, come to find out Stoops doesn't necessarily have the hard-and-fast stance that was portrayed in the Sporting News article.

Stoops wanted to clarify a couple of things. In his Sporting News interview, Stoops said, the subject of stipends didn't come up. Stoops is all for it.

The stipend is a trending issue within NCAA ranks. Changing the athletic scholarship to include the cost of living, not just the cost of attendance (room, board, tuition, books).

The NCAA definitely should implement the stipend, primarily because it's standard procedure for a lot of scholarships. For example, OU's hugely successful National Merit program includes stipends above and beyond the standard full scholarship.

Stoops' primary point to The Sporting News was lost in the Hungry Sunday comment but remains valid. A college scholarship is no small reward.

Stoops told me he wishes the Hungry Sunday line hadn't become the focal point of this debate. But he doesn't back down. Stoops stands by what he said. Says he feels bad if money's tight with one of his players. "But I feel bad for the hungry kid in the other dorm, too," Stoops said.

Original story:

If you've yet to see and/or hear about it, Bob Stoops set the Internet abuzz Wednesday with his stance on the theorized 'pay for play' system for student-athletes which he shared with The Sporting News.

Stoops poses a common argument for those who are against paying college athletes, because they are "paid" via the scholarships and related benefits they receive as athletes.

"You know what school would cost here for non-state guy? Over $200,000 for room, board and everything else," Stoops said. "That's a lot of money. Ask the kids who have to pay it back over 10-15 years with student loans. You get room and board, and we'll give you the best nutritionist, the best strength coach to develop you, the best tutors to help you academically, and coaches to teach you and help you develop. How much do you think it would cost to hire a personal trainer and tutor for 4-5 years?

"I don't get why people say these guys don't get paid. It's simple, they are paid quite often, quite a bit and quite handsomely."

Naturally, Stoops' comments set off individuals on both side of the argument.

Pro Stoops' comments:

Anti Stoops' comments:

So we'll put it to you, OU fans. What do you think? Do you agree with Stoops or do you think he's comments are off-base?

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