Former NFL star J.J. Watt called out the NCAA on Monday for referring to collegiate athletes as students first.
Watt, in a post on X, pointed to the money the organization makes, the advent of name, image and likeness (NIL), the transfer portal and the cross-country travel teams have to make.
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Arizona Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt, #99, reacts after a loss to the Patriots at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Dec. 12, 2022. (Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK)
“At some point the NCAA needs to drop the ‘student first, athlete second’ charade,” the former Wisconsin Badgers star wrote. “Billions of dollars, NIL, transfer portal (free agency), traveling cross-country for midweek games…
“Education is not the main focus. Admit it and call it what it is. A business. Run it as such.”
When one X user noticed that Watt’s point seemed to only refer to the best players in the best programs, Watt agreed.
“That’s exactly my point,” Watt added. “We’ve got kids who aren’t ‘making money’ and will never go pro, yet they are traveling across the country midweek for ‘conference games,’ transferring schools, sacrificing studies for sport, etc. None of this is about what’s doing best for the student.”
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Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman J.J. Watt, #99, comes onto the field prior to a game against the Patriots at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Dec. 12, 2022. (Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Many college coaches in the NCAA ranks have echoed Watt’s point.
Former Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban ripped the treatment of NIL in college sports in February 2024.
“What we have now is not college football — not college football as we know it. You hear somebody use the word ‘student-athlete.’ That doesn’t exist,” Saban said in an interview with ESPN.
He added that collectives in college sports had “nothing to do with name, image and likeness.”
ESPN analyst Nick Saban before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in MIami on Jan. 9, 2025. (Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)
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“Just like an NFL player has a contract or a coach has a contract, something in place, so you don’t have all this raiding of rosters and mass movement,” he said. “I wonder what fans are going to say when they don’t even know the team from year to year because there’s no development of teams, just bringing in new players every year.”
Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
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