Stepping Up

10/5/10
With agents running rampant throughout the college football environment, there is no real "easy" solution to this problem. There is the "improper benefits" in the form of hard-cash (Maurice Pouncey allegedly accepting $100,000 from an agent before their Sugar Bowl victory this past year) or all-paid for expenses like the infamous Miami South Beach Party (with players from Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina being investigated). Either way, it still violates the NCAA rules. While the schools and players are feeling the effects of these investigations, the agents are simply exploiting this system. Currently, there is no reason for these agents to follow the rules because the NFL rarely punishes them and schools rarely press charges against them. With the mass amounts of agents, it's a dog-eat-dog business and each one is willing to push the boundaries to get a leg up on the competition. This usually involves breaking the rules, since the NFL does not hand out real punishments. This is where the problem lies - it is up to the NFL to step up here and enforce legitimate punishments on these agents so that they think twice before approaching these young college athletes.