NCAA Hoops Is "Modern-Day Slavery," Says Ex-Husky and NBAer Bobby Jones

Owen Schmitt, the 24-year-old starting fullback for the Seattle Seahawks, opened a gushing wound on his forehead during Sunday's pre-game introductions when he decided to repeatedly whack himself with his helmet as he ran onto the field. Video!

This is pretty awesome in a tribal way, and apparently psyched up Schmitt's teammates. "That got us going," linebacker Lofa Tatupu told the P-I's Greg Johns. "A man willing to bloody his own face, you know how much he's willing to put on the line."

Then again, as childhood friend David pointed out later that night, it also shows why football players struggle to adjust to the working world once their playing careers are over. A pre-event self-bloodying may inspire football teammates, but see how well it works before your next company-wide health coverage informational. 

Ex-Husky Bobby Jones: NCAA hoops "like slavery"

Halfway around the world, a 25-year-old former Husky is giving serious thought to how athletes fit into society. Bobby Jones, a defensive whiz for the 2002-06 Washington basketball team, is questioning his career choice--and expressing serious misgivings about the institution of college athletics--as he begins his first season playing professionally in Italy.

"Can you imagine working on becoming a doctor or a lawyer at the age of 10? And you just know your going to become one so all you do is put all your time into that craft? ... Trust me, it’s that intense if you allow it to be," Jones writes on his blog My Adventures and Beliefs While in Italy.

Let's say you’re lucky enough to use that craft you been working on to get a free education and go to college. You should be thankful right? You should, but at the same time what you sign up for is having other people telling you what you going to do from the moment you wake up till about 6-7pm at night ... If for some reason you don’t perform like our coaches think you should ... they just want to get rid of you. ... Sounds like modern-day slavery if you ask me. It also sounds like a job but you don’t get paid for it even though you’re making the institution a shit load of money.

Jones is not the first person to charge that big-money D1 athletes are being exploited. A test case that could lead to some form of payment for college athletes got filed this July by former UCLA hoopster Ed O'Bannon. The class-action suit focuses on royalty payments for using players' likenesses in video games, but could extend to other areas where colleges make money of off players.

All those Washington #10 football jerseys fans (and their kids) wear? You don't see Jake Locker's name on the back, but that number's popularity has way more to do with him than with some city-wide deca-obsession. And Locker won't see a penny of the money Nike and the UW are making from his talent--or from the physical or emotional sacrifices he makes as a D1 athlete.

After the Huskies' overtime loss to Notre Dame two weeks ago, Locker refused to make himself available to reporters after the game. "I didn't feel like I was in the best emotional state to answer questions," Locker said later. "I felt like it was in my best interest and the team's best interest to take some time to cool down."

Locker was probably wise to stay away from the media that day, but the hyper-emotional state that goes along with high-stakes D1 athletics isn't going to fly if Locker ever tries to use the degree he'll (hopefully) earn--after, in Bobby Jones' words, UW treated him like a slave.

Jones doesn't know how he'd fix the problem. In an interview with the terrific new Husky hoops blog Montlake Madness, he says he doesn't "have an answer yet" for how the NCAA might more fairly reimburse athletes. But apparently he's thinking about it. Better than just hitting his head against a helmet.