Doug Gottlieb took his fellow media members to task over a pair of issues on Monday’s edition of The Doug Gottlieb Show. They range from arguing against college players unionizing to debunking the idea that college players only play the games so they can become professional athletes.
Gottlieb uses himself and Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields as examples to bolster each argument.
“My media brethren are trying to sell you this idea that if you don’t support players unionizing, that you are anti-athlete,” Gottlieb said. “I have maintained athletes are compensated for their time and talents and I’m not just talking about scholarships. I’m talking about the ability to get into their school, which means something. Their books are taken care of. They are well fed and they have access to top training as an athlete. I don’t think it is so much colleges not taking care of athletes as it is athletes not taking advantage of colleges to promote themselves.”
Gottlieb then uses himself and his time on the Oklahoma State basketball team as an example of what that promotion can look like.
“As you know ,I was a college athlete,” he said. “I was pretty good and an excellent passer, but I knew I was not an NBA player. I majored in Marketing and I began to market myself and create an image for myself to the media and they began to take notice. The media became my career path.”
“If you look at the history of unions there purpose is to regulate hours,” Gottlieb continued. “Athletes are already capped at 20 hour per week. The other purpose is to have equal treatment of all players. Athletes already have that. The same rules apply to the stars as the rank and file players. My question is, ‘why do we need unions with college’s players then’? Are there potential benefits? Sure. But the potential for disadvantages outweigh them.”
Gottlieb shifts gears slightly addressing Justin Fields’ petition to have the Big 10 reinstate football this fall.
“Some media members say that the only reason for athletes to play college football is to prepare to play professionally,” he said. “The reality is that most players won’t play professionally. They play because they want to play and they want to win. Look at Justin Fields. He doesn’t have to play. He WANTS to play. He has nothing to gain by playing. In fact, his draft position will probably drop, but yet he started a petition that has over 200,000 signatures just because he wants to play. It also shows you what the reality really is. Most players feel that way and my friends in the media who try to sell you a different narrative, they are full of crap.”
