The college athlete stipend is NOT a new concept. I'm not sure when it started but it was long before my lifetime. I had a cousin play for the U from 01-05 and he received $1100.00 per month. To give you some additional perspective, one of my brothers got a written offer from Weber State of all places who offered $750.00 per month, yes even Weber pays a stipend to scholarship players. And that was 7 years ago.

The discussions going on now is to increase the stipend to a more fair living wage so to speak not to create something out of thin air. By the way, college athletes are well taken care of and perhaps more so than most working class people. They are not struggling or starving, perhaps this idea comes from the athletes who may one day turn pro and are just being impatient when it comes to money.