FC: Sean Clifford unionizing players at Penn State.

Fizz1

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BobPSU92

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Nits74

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1. It’s professional football now. The players are deriving their primary source of income from “performing” on the field.

2. Requiring these men “spare me the kids ****” to attend classes is a silly idea.

3. The players are effectively free agents. Why honor any scholarships beyond one year? If they don’t perform they should hit the street and go somewhere else. Penn State owes them nothing. They have to earn their keep now, just like the rest of us.

4. They are open to criticism for any failure to perform. If they hear boos too bad. They are no different than ball players in any other sport. If they don’t like it tough. No time to go back to Mama now. They are men. Their parents had best get used to it.
A little on the harsh side, but you make some very good points.
 
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blion72

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I don’t disagree, but since when is capitalism ‘woke’?
I agree, but not sure where Sean is coming from. To me NIL is pure capitalism - the best get the most and the bottom get nothing. It will be one of those pareto things = top 20% get almost all the NIL $$$. This disparity doesn't hurt the game as the schools are not part of the picture and it is not their money.

What Sean seems to be talking about, unless I missed it, is some sort of pay to play min comp for ALL players and maybe even a scale. He seems to be focused on some notion of equity (i.e. NOT capitalism). Nothing to do with NIL, and it appears that all think this is coming from splitting up the TV money. I am not sure how that works, as the schools get the TV money, and not some type of independent collective 501c3 corp. I think there would be a lot of problem distributing this money to football players as comp or added scholarship funding.
 
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Moogy

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1. It’s professional football now. The players are deriving their primary source of income from “performing” on the field.

2. Requiring these men “spare me the kids ****” to attend classes is a silly idea.

3. The players are effectively free agents. Why honor any scholarships beyond one year? If they don’t perform they should hit the street and go somewhere else. Penn State owes them nothing. They have to earn their keep now, just like the rest of us.

4. They are open to criticism for any failure to perform. If they hear boos too bad. They are no different than ball players in any other sport. If they don’t like it tough. No time to go back to Mama now. They are men. Their parents had best get used to it.

So, we'll mark you down for being in favor of the football players essentially having a full-time job while in college, and only getting an "education" (most are forced/only equipped to take a gimme major and skate by) and room and board paid for, while those not getting their brains scrambled and bodies broken were making billions off of their efforts? Got it.
 

BW Lion

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So, we'll mark you down for being in favor of the football players essentially having a full-time job while in college, and only getting an "education" (most are forced/only equipped to take a gimme major and skate by) and room and board paid for, while those not getting their brains scrambled and bodies broken were making billions off of their efforts? Got it.
Oh Moogy,

You were never close to being “significant” on a PSU roster to be concerned with such things. 🙄
 

Moogy

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1. It’s professional football now. The players are deriving their primary source of income from “performing” on the field.

Where were they deriving their primary source of income from prior? I thought the anti-athletes big claim was that these guys were already being "paid" in the form of a free education (giggle) and training. So wasn't this already their primary source of income, and now they're just going to potentially be paid more?
2. Requiring these men “spare me the kids ****” to attend classes is a silly idea.
It was pretty silly before. No one really cared about the kids' education prior. It was just qualify academically, so you can get on the field and we can cheer you on for your exploits there. There was no grand celebration when a kid got an A for the semester. There was when he scored a TD, however. Most were majoring in advertising/public relations/sports rec/criminology/sociology throwaway majors and guaranteed to graduate as long as they attended class. Big whoop. A pseudo-education just to process them through the football system. Meanwhile, these "men" have been groomed, since they were 17, 16, 15 or even 14, by older men paid millions toward this goal to come to their program and make that program successful.
3. The players are effectively free agents. Why honor any scholarships beyond one year? If they don’t perform they should hit the street and go somewhere else. Penn State owes them nothing. They have to earn their keep now, just like the rest of us.
Sort of like it was for pretty much the entirety of the scholarship era of college football, except, for most of it, the players had to "earn their keep" every year, but they weren't allowed to move on without losing eligibility because ... why exactly?
4. They are open to criticism for any failure to perform. If they hear boos too bad. They are no different than ball players in any other sport. If they don’t like it tough. No time to go back to Mama now. They are men. Their parents had best get used to it.

They always were open to criticism. You guys who have an issue with this, and are taking it out on the players ... you're just friggin' weird.
 

Moogy

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Says the insignificant, perpetually injured ex-PSU athlete no one has ever heard of.

#moogyslore
Cool, dude. Now go back to smearing feces on your body and slapping your face while looking in the mirror crying and yelling at yourself that you're a worthless piece of crap and nobody likes you. That's slightly less pathetic than how you appear when you post here.
 

psbc19

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Cool, dude. Now go back to smearing feces on your body and slapping your face while looking in the mirror crying and yelling at yourself that you're a worthless piece of crap and nobody likes you. That's slightly less pathetic than how you appear when you post here.
ron burgundy GIF
 

Moogy

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LOL! Only if you're not familiar with the creepizoid that is BW Lion. He alternates between attacking Franklin for things like the fall of Rome, and Pluto being downgraded to a dwarf planet ... to attempting to dox people for being a poor pilot on the first Martian spaceship to visit Earth. I'd normally say he's not all there ... but in his case, I don't think any of it is there.
 

NB4PSU

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This has been updated to say that they are looking to partner, not create a union at this time.

I sure hope Sean is spend as much time with his playbook and video as he is with his NIL collective and now this. If he wanted to be a businessman, he should have stepped away from football.
Exact thought i had when reading this. He wants to do this last january and it gets resolved by june... fine. But it sounds like this could be an ongoing challenge and it WILL take time away from concentrating on the thing that matters most (ok, to penn state football fans)... anf that ain't the deal. The continuing cfb death spiral watch continues...
 

Midnighter

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CvilleElksCoach

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I support the players here but am not a fan of ‘smuggling’ opportunists into campus facilities to make presentations about anything without staff knowing. Dumb move by Clifford
I totally agree. The lack of focus on football and the distractions this is creating in on Cliff. Practice starts next week. If he's not locked in, he needs to go.
 

Ram20

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I totally agree. The lack of focus on football and the distractions this is creating in on Cliff. Practice starts next week. If he's not locked in, he needs to go.
Yeah, and look, Saban would never put up with this sh*t. Like a lot of institutions these days, we have seemed very attentive to externalities, covid(as has every program, just seemed a little more for us), social justice concerns, and now this stuff. I believe athletes should be involved in more than just their sport, that is part of the college experience, but if your on-field results start to slack(11-11 the last 2 years), then I think the coach has to focus the team to the field. Candidly, I like Sean a lot, I think he has been a soldier and represented the university well. That said, if he was going to use his extra year in football to create businesses for football, I'd just have rather he left after last year and we could move on as a program. It appears that there exists a lack of accountability top down with this team. Franklin gets his big contract, Clifford gets his 6th year, and we don't seem singularly focused on football. Franklin is working on "getting his" during the season last year, Clifford is working on "getting his" in the offseason. There is a great class of recruits currently committed(credit to Franklin there), if these guys put up another dud this year, you have to start wondering if this is a program in major decline. Surly the recruits will feel that way.
 

91Joe95

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Exact thought i had when reading this. He wants to do this last january and it gets resolved by june... fine. But it sounds like this could be an ongoing challenge and it WILL take time away from concentrating on the thing that matters most (ok, to penn state football fans)... anf that ain't the deal. The continuing cfb death spiral watch continues...

Eh, NCAA limits the amount of practice, work out time, etc that schools and coaches can do. Even when athletes work out on their own, their bodies still need time to recover. Are coaches even allowed to give the playbook or opponents films to study? I remember the video games a few years ago, but even that took limited time to master. Depending on class load, that can leave a fair amount of downtime, especially during the summer.
 
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CvilleElksCoach

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Eh, NCAA limits the amount of practice, work out time, etc that schools and coaches can do. Even when athletes work out on their own, their bodies still need time to recover. Are coaches even allowed to give the playbook or opponents films to study? I remember the video games a few years ago, but even that took limited time to master. Depending on class load, that can leave a fair amount of downtime, especially during the summer.
They can spend time with the staff once per week. There are no limits on spending their time to study or throw with the receivers, etc. They can also go into a coaches office and look at film if they want and ask questions. I get they have time and I don't begrudge him of that. I do have an issue with the distraction factor. Wait until tomorrow when the questions are all about this at Big Ten media day vs. the season. "Smuggling" of the associate president into Lasch and the team meeting room was not a smart move and likely why Sean walked some of this back late last week.
 
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91Joe95

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Smuggling makes it sound like no one knew he was there. They may not have known exactly who he was, but they were comfortable letting an "unknown" in.
 

Alphalion75

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This has been updated to say that they are looking to partner, not create a union at this time.

I sure hope Sean is spend as much time with his playbook and video as he is with his NIL collective and now this. If he wanted to be a businessman, he should have stepped away from football.
Yep. I believe it'd time for Sean to move on. He seems to have bigger fish to fry.
 

Midnighter

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Smuggling makes it sound like no one knew he was there. They may not have known exactly who he was, but they were comfortable letting an "unknown" in.

Who is ‘they’? The coaches? Didn’t seem like they knew someone was going to be there based on the quotes.

That timeline was derailed when a Penn State assistant coach entered during the final five minutes of the meeting, Stahl said.

"We hid it. We hid it all," Stahl told CBS Sports. "[The players] literally smuggled me into this facility at 7:30 in the morning to do an all-day presentation when there were no coaches around. The only reason this leaked out, the last five minutes of the presentation, the strength and training coach walked in the room."
 
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91Joe95

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Who is ‘they’? The coaches? Didn’t seem like they knew someone was going to be there based on the quotes.

That timeline was derailed when a Penn State assistant coach entered during the final five minutes of the meeting, Stahl said.

"We hid it. We hid it all," Stahl told CBS Sports. "[The players] literally smuggled me into this facility at 7:30 in the morning to do an all-day presentation when there were no coaches around. The only reason this leaked out, the last five minutes of the presentation, the strength and training coach walked in the room."

Who's in charge of visitors or security at the building? Maybe it's no one and I'm way off base. I'd like to think some lessons were learned post-Sandusky and how Paterno had been right all along about limiting access.
 

BobPSU92

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Who's in charge of visitors or security at the building? Maybe it's no one and I'm way off base. I'd like to think some lessons were learned post-Sandusky and how Paterno had been right all along about limiting access.

Openness, transparency.
 

PSUSignore

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When I first heard about Clifford's involvement I equated this to him dipping a toe in the water to try to get some benefits for the team, and asking for something like long term medical benefits shows he was thinking about it reasonably.

After reading this article with quotes like this it now sounds more like Stahl is a slimy door to door salesman pushing his wares on unsuspecting college kids. What is Stahl getting out of this?
"Sean is now going through a massive internal conflict," Stahl told CBS Sports. "'Do I believe this man who I kind of just met?' I told him I loved him at one point."

The day after the meeting, Stahl said he told Clifford: "I'm about to send a group text to 14 people on your team who bought in and were ready to take up a leadership position. If you don't want to do it, someone will step in and fill the void."
 

CvilleElksCoach

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Who is ‘they’? The coaches? Didn’t seem like they knew someone was going to be there based on the quotes.

That timeline was derailed when a Penn State assistant coach entered during the final five minutes of the meeting, Stahl said.

"We hid it. We hid it all," Stahl told CBS Sports. "[The players] literally smuggled me into this facility at 7:30 in the morning to do an all-day presentation when there were no coaches around. The only reason this leaked out, the last five minutes of the presentation, the strength and training coach walked in the room."
Most of the coaching staff are on vacation out of town. Sounds like Chuck Losey walked in on it. With the weight room being down, Chuck is spending most of his time over in Holuba where the temp weight room is set up. That being said, this Stahl guys sounds a bit sketchy.
 
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PSUJam

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When I first heard about Clifford's involvement I equated this to him dipping a toe in the water to try to get some benefits for the team, and asking for something like long term medical benefits shows he was thinking about it reasonably.

After reading this article with quotes like this it now sounds more like Stahl is a slimy door to door salesman pushing his wares on unsuspecting college kids. What is Stahl getting out of this?
"Sean is now going through a massive internal conflict," Stahl told CBS Sports. "'Do I believe this man who I kind of just met?' I told him I loved him at one point."

The day after the meeting, Stahl said he told Clifford: "I'm about to send a group text to 14 people on your team who bought in and were ready to take up a leadership position. If you don't want to do it, someone will step in and fill the void."
Don't blame Cliff, blame the NCAA for dragging their feet and not getting out in front of this year's ago. What you're seeing is the end result because of NCAA incompetence.
 

NB4PSU

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When I first heard about Clifford's involvement I equated this to him dipping a toe in the water to try to get some benefits for the team, and asking for something like long term medical benefits shows he was thinking about it reasonably.

After reading this article with quotes like this it now sounds more like Stahl is a slimy door to door salesman pushing his wares on unsuspecting college kids. What is Stahl getting out of this?
"Sean is now going through a massive internal conflict," Stahl told CBS Sports. "'Do I believe this man who I kind of just met?' I told him I loved him at one point."

The day after the meeting, Stahl said he told Clifford: "I'm about to send a group text to 14 people on your team who bought in and were ready to take up a leadership position. If you don't want to do it, someone will step in and fill the void."
It's the "massive internal conflict" part that concerns me... hard enough being a CFB QB at this level let alone having outside pressure like this to contend with. Yeah, that's life, but I expect it will interfere with his concentration and prep (mentally) for the season (and possibly in-season). Hope not -- maybe he's one of those rare kids who can juggle a bunch of things and come up shining -- but if not, we likely see option 2 at QB sooner rather than later. And while that might be good for us down the road, I doubt it helps us win this year.

That's my pov and I hope i'm wrong on all accounts. Time will tell.
 

NoBareFeet

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It was pretty silly before. No one really cared about the kids' education prior. It was just qualify academically, so you can get on the field and we can cheer you on for your exploits there.
Not true. People who did things the right way cared. Joe Paterno sure cared. It is the scumbag renegade programs (Switzer's Oklahoma, Johnson's Miami, and take your pick in the SEC...) that normalized what we see now. Kids bought and paid for disguising as college students to win games. Just because some bad people abused the system doesn't mean we should normalize it.

It is COLLEGE football. If you want to play, you need to be a COLLEGE STUDENT. If you have no interest in that, don't play. Should be that simple.
 

HarrisburgDave

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Where were they deriving their primary source of income from prior? I thought the anti-athletes big claim was that these guys were already being "paid" in the form of a free education (giggle) and training. So wasn't this already their primary source of income, and now they're just going to potentially be paid more?

It was pretty silly before. No one really cared about the kids' education prior. It was just qualify academically, so you can get on the field and we can cheer you on for your exploits there. There was no grand celebration when a kid got an A for the semester. There was when he scored a TD, however. Most were majoring in advertising/public relations/sports rec/criminology/sociology throwaway majors and guaranteed to graduate as long as they attended class. Big whoop. A pseudo-education just to process them through the football system. Meanwhile, these "men" have been groomed, since they were 17, 16, 15 or even 14, by older men paid millions toward this goal to come to their program and make that program successful.

Sort of like it was for pretty much the entirety of the scholarship era of college football, except, for most of it, the players had to "earn their keep" every year, but they weren't allowed to move on without losing eligibility because ... why exactly?


They always were open to criticism. You guys who have an issue with this, and are taking it out on the players ... you're just friggin' weird.
 

Nitt1300

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Not true. People who did things the right way cared. Joe Paterno sure cared. It is the scumbag renegade programs (Switzer's Oklahoma, Johnson's Miami, and take your pick in the SEC...) that normalized what we see now. Kids bought and paid for disguising as college students to win games. Just because some bad people abused the system doesn't mean we should normalize it.

It is COLLEGE football. If you want to play, you need to be a COLLEGE STUDENT. If you have no interest in that, don't play. Should be that simple.
should be- isn't
 
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VaDave4PSU

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why Sean walked some of this back late last week.

Technically, it was SCs first time talking about it wasn't it?

As somebody else mentioned, sounds like SC was probably used to get the meeting based on his NIL company and this Stahl guy is pushing something a little more than he thought.

The more it's talked about, the greater the distraction will be. I don't like that.
 

HarrisburgDave

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Where were they deriving their primary source of income from prior? I thought the anti-athletes big claim was that these guys were already being "paid" in the form of a free education (giggle) and training. So wasn't this already their primary source of income, and now they're just going to potentially be paid more?

It was pretty silly before. No one really cared about the kids' education prior. It was just qualify academically, so you can get on the field and we can cheer you on for your exploits there. There was no grand celebration when a kid got an A for the semester. There was when he scored a TD, however. Most were majoring in advertising/public relations/sports rec/criminology/sociology throwaway majors and guaranteed to graduate as long as they attended class. Big whoop. A pseudo-education just to process them through the football system. Meanwhile, these "men" have been groomed, since they were 17, 16, 15 or even 14, by older men paid millions toward this goal to come to their program and make that program successful.

Sort of like it was for pretty much the entirety of the scholarship era of college football, except, for most of it, the players had to "earn their keep" every year, but they weren't allowed to move on without losing eligibility because ... why exactly?


They always were open to criticism. You guys who have an issue with this, and are taking it out on the players ... you're just friggin' weird.
Remember this post a few years from now. As the old system breathes its last remember it provided thousands of players with free education, free room and board, free health care, free professional athletic training and facilities, free professional coaching and exposure to a national audience with an opportunity to continue on to a professional career.

We now see a move to perhaps as few as two super conferences with less than forty members. The very continuation of the game (and scholarship opportunities) is in question at the 100 or so other D1 schools to be excluded from the professional era replacing the old.

So where are some of us coming from? We think in the rush for $ that is destroying college sports we will end up eliminating opportunities for 4 (or more) years of scholarships worth more than $200,000 to a student athlete attending the average D1 program. Currently D1 schools provide more than 11,000 football scholarships alone. Add to that the thousands more provided to non football athletes paid from football revenues.
 
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HarrisburgDave

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Tell me again why Penn State will have a quarterback in his sixth year of eligibility? Oh, I understand how it happened, but not why it is happening?

It’s long since time Clifford moved on. His being on the team is foolish and it is now a distraction.
 

HarrisburgDave

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Let’s revisit this thread, when Cliff goes 12-32 with three picks in an opening loss to Purdue
I’m sure Franklin will have a QB ready, if Clifford flops again.

After all, he has an Elite 11 QB recruited two years ago, the PA All State 6A QB from last year, and the top national QB from last year on the roster.

What could go wrong?
 
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