Michigan DB Jabrill Peppers says he can't 'eat right' on NCAA checks

[BleedGopher]

per CBS:

Add another name to the list of college athletes unhappy with how much food their stipend checks can buy -- or rather, how much it can't.

Michigan sophomore defensive back and former five-star recruit Jabrill Peppers tweeted Tuesday evening that he was "about to eat my first meal of the day" -- a bowl of ramen noodles. Over the course of several tweets stretching into Wednesday morning, Peppers made it clear where he put the blame for that situation:

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...eppers-says-he-cant-eat-right-on-ncaas-checks

Go Gophers!!

 

[jaymil]

I thought food was unlimited now?

 

[Nate]

Michigan should have a training table?

 

[DRJ]

Money

I thought food was unlimited now?

Well, maybe some of these kids spend the money on other things, like fancy clothes, jewelry, cars, etc. If you give money to some of these punks for food, it does mean they will spend the money appropriately on food. What's that old saying, you can lead a horse to the water, but you can not make it drink if it does not want to. Some people in all walks of life are clueless!

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

"Indentured servitude" is a ridiculous analogy. Indentured servants incurred debts in exchange for a future obligation to work for a period of years. If someone attempted to leave their obligation, they would be sought out and returned and Courts would enforce their obligation to continue working. Mr. Peppers, on the other hand, is free to walk off the team at any time if he does not like the terms of his scholarship. No one is going to capture him and force him to return to the practice field. If someone attempted to do that to him, the Courts would be punishing his kidnapper, not forcing him to continue to play football for Michigan.

 

[die hard gopher]

I thought food was unlimited now?

I believe it's not an NCAA violation to provide them with unlimited meals now but that doesn't mean Michigan has to do so if they can't or don't want to.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Well, maybe some of these kids spend the money on other things, like fancy clothes, jewelry, cars, etc. If you give money to some of these punks for food, it does mean they will spend the money appropriately on food. What's that old saying, you can lead a horse to the water, but you can not make it drink if it does not want to. Some people in all walks of life are clueless!

Don't forget tattoos and X-Box, Madden, etc. Willing to bet most of the athletes whining about about not having enough food spend a ton of money on completely unnecessary things.

 

[oleboy41]

lol. Guys on a CFB message board cheering for teams that make tens of millions each year are railing on the kids who provide the essentially free labor they love so much.

 

[oleboy41]

Don't forget tattoos and X-Box, Madden, etc. Willing to bet most of the athletes whining about about not having enough food spend a ton of money on completely unnecessary things.

So basically they're like 99% of Americans? Good reason to criticize...

 

[SelectionSunday]

Or, maybe they're like the (seemingly) 99% of Americans who think it's their God-given right to have everything handed to them.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

So basically they're like 99% of Americans? Good reason to criticize...

I don't criticize people who spend money on unnecessary luxuries (heaven knows I do it too). I do criticize people who spend money on unnecessary luxuries and then turn around and claim to not be able to afford their necessities. It really irks me when I see someone on the bus who complains that he cannot afford groceries, and then pulls out a phone which is more expensive than any phone I have ever owned and probably has a monthly data plan which costs enough to cover a couple weeks of groceries for one person living frugally.

 

[Nate]

How did this guy ever eat before the NCAA permitted athletes to get stipends?

 

[GreasyGopher]

I thought food was unlimited now?

I think food is free but its provided on campus not delivered to the cupboards of Mr. Peppers off campus home.

 

[Ski U Mah 55]

Isn't the answer to his issue in the first tweet? Staying in the dorms would give him access to the cafeteria and be covered by the scholarship would it not?

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

How did this guy ever eat before the NCAA permitted athletes to get stipends?

Athletes that didn't live in dorms always got a stipend for room & board.

This must be his first period of time in Ann Arbor not spent in University housing,

 

[dpodoll68]

lol. Guys on a CFB message board cheering for teams that make tens of millions each year are railing on the kids who provide the essentially free labor they love so much.

"Essentially free"? Give me a break. I guess the six figures (easily) in student loan debt that my wife and I have is "essentially" nothing? The government won't care if I just stop making the payments?

 

[Spoofin]

Isn't the answer to his issue in the first tweet? Staying in the dorms would give him access to the cafeteria and be covered by the scholarship would it not?

+1000. He basically said he CHOSE this situation, then bitches about it.

 

[nsmike]

I'd like to be a fly on the wall when Coach Harbaugh discusses this tweet with Mr. Peppers.

 

[oleboy41]

"Essentially free"? Give me a break. I guess the six figures (easily) in student loan debt that my wife and I have is "essentially" nothing? The government won't care if I just stop making the payments?

Don't play that card because it doesn't apply. It is essentially free because the profit brought in by these athletes far outweighs the cost of any benefits provided to them which means they are given no where near their market value.

 

[GophersInIowa]

lol. Guys on a CFB message board cheering for teams that make tens of millions each year are railing on the kids who provide the essentially free labor they love so much.

Athletic departments generally do not make millions. Most are barely in the black or even in the red. Yes the money coming in is much greater but the expenses are through the roof. I am not sure why this is so hard to understand.

Also, saying it is essentially free labor is a joke. The reality is most athletes will use their education and they have a big advantage over many of us who are paying back loans for a long time.

 

[oleboy41]

Athletic departments generally do not make millions. Most are barely in the black or even in the red. Yes the money coming in is much greater but the expenses are through the roof. I am not sure why this is so hard to understand.

Also, saying it is essentially free labor is a joke. The reality is most athletes will use their education and they have a big advantage over many of us who are paying back loans for a long time.

Most athletic departments are raking in cash from football programs. How they choose to allocate that is a different issue and the reason most are barely in the black is because they support programs that only lose money. Michigan makes a huge amount from the football program. Yes, the lack of student loans is a benefit but its not as simple as that.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Don't play that card because it doesn't apply. It is essentially free because the profit brought in by these athletes far outweighs the cost of any benefits provided to them which means they are given no where near their market value.

The market value of a product/service is not based on the profit margin of the organization using that product or service. If that were the case, the market value of an official Wilson football would be way more than $75 because of how much profit the NFL and its teams are able to make by using it.

 

[GopherinFlorida]

This is why full cost of living stipends has been passed. It should help alleviate the situation.

But in the end, we always seem to forget on this board that these kids can't work. Regardless of the cost of school (whether scholarship, loans or mommy/daddy), how many of you didn't also work while in college for spending money? I know I worked, plus the summer I worked two jobs so I could afford to go to school.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Most athletic departments are raking in cash from football programs. How they choose to allocate that is a different issue and the reason most are barely in the black is because they support programs that only lose money. Michigan makes a huge amount from the football program. Yes, the lack of student loans is a benefit but its not as simple as that.

So what is your solution? It isn't as simple as just pay them a lot more. Where does the money come from? Do you just get rid of sports that do not make money?

Also, why isn't the loans part simple? Not having loans is a huge advantage.

 

[GopherinFlorida]

The market value of a product/service is not based on the profit margin of the organization using that product or service. If that were the case, the market value of an official Wilson football would be way more than $75 because of how much profit the NFL and its teams are able to make by using it.

Not really a valid economic argument. The idea that the unique skills of a 5 star D-1 player can be valued similarly to a football that any number of companies can and do manufacturer is just ignorant.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Not really a valid economic argument. The idea that the unique skills of a 5 star D-1 player can be valued similarly to a football that any number of companies can and do manufacturer is just ignorant.

That doesn't change the fact that the market value of an input is not determined exclusively by the profit margin on the output, which is what I was responding to.

If the the deal they are getting is so raw, and their skills are what is driving the profit, then entrepreneurs would be chomping at the bit to create minor leagues for these players where they would offer better compensation than a college scholarship and those leagues would be wildly profitable endeavors.

 

[CentralGopher]

Take advantage of the food service on campus and shouldn't be much of a problem. The entitled ones think they need to live off campus and are too good to eat at the cafeteria and should have everything provided to them.

 

[Sparlimb]

Anyone want to explain why he doesn't quit then and get a job like the rest of us? What a moron. If you're unhappy, quit. Make your fortune another way.

 

[DoubleB]

oh my i wish he would have stayed on campus in the dorms where the coaching staff could keep an eye on him so that he could eat

the problem is that something free isn't good enough anymore. free tuition is not enough pay them and i guarantee a few years down the road they will want more.

how can they afford the TV's and the gaming stations and oh my why go to class, that is the only time they can eat at the resident halls?

spoiled elitist is what our athletes are becoming. coddled and spoiled.

 

[dpodoll68]

Don't play that card because it doesn't apply. It is essentially free because the profit brought in by these athletes far outweighs the cost of any benefits provided to them which means they are given no where near their market value.

C'mon man. You're better than this. This is the type of argument that a 15-year-old makes. Every employee at every company makes their employer more profit than the benefits provided to them...or they don't stay employed for very long. The analogy doesn't exactly apply because college athletes aren't employees, but for the purposes of comparison, these guys are killing each other for a scholarship because it's easily the best opportunity available to them. How is that the fault of the NCAA and its member schools? The argument has already been made in this very thread (and by me and others here previously, along with many other places), but if there were a profit to be made by paying (mostly) minors a salary to play football, someone would be doing it. The fact that there are zero opportunities in the U.S. for (mostly) minors to play professional football tells you all you need to know. It's not a viable enterprise. Period.