Senator: Brian Kelly, James Franklin, Mel Tucker Contracts Have Congress’ Attention

AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades

Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic senator from Connecticut, said Wednesday that the lucrative contracts
recently signed by three college football head coaches—LSU’s
Brian Kelly, Michigan State’s Mel Tucker and Penn State’s James
Franklin—have attracted the attention of Congress.

Steve Berkowitz of USA Today reported
those coaches signed contracts worth an estimated $280 million
in combined total value, and USC’s Lincoln Riley recently signed a deal
rumored at $110 million. Blumenthal called the size of the agreements “outrageously astronomical.”

“This latest round of contracts is…definitely getting attention in the Congress,” Blumenthal told USA
Today. “[It] may give us a real opportunity to seek a bipartisan
consensus for this kind of bill of rights” for college athletes.

In December 2020, Blumenthal was among a group of senators who introduced legislation aimed at expanding the rights
of college athletes, including increased health standards, a Medical
Trust Fund and a ban on the various rules that restrict player
movement to different schools.

The bill didn’t receive majority
support in Congress because of opposition from Republicans and
colleges, so they went back to the drawing board in an effort to
receive bipartisan support for their efforts.

Blumenthal told Berkowitz it isn’t
likely to happen during the latter stages of 2021 because there are
several other key issues to settle before year’s end, but he said he’s hopeful to circle back in January with the hope that the large salaries paid
to coaches sparks interest in the issue.

“You just want to say there’s
something wrong with this picture when…the coaches have,
guaranteed, 10 million bucks a year…if they’re fired, win or
lose, good season or bad, no matter how they perform, whereas the
guys on the field who are giving their blood, sweat and tears are
guaranteed nothing,” he said.

Blumenthal, who hinted toward increased
taxes or antitrust treatment on colleges as a way to ensure better
treatment for athletes, said there probably isn’t a mechanism to
limit coaches’ salaries, but that’s not his main concern.

“I don’t think Congress should be
setting compensation caps,” he told USA Today. “What we should be
doing is requiring fairness in treatment of athletes.”

A Supreme Court ruling in June opened
the door for collegiate athletes to use their name, image and
likeness (NIL) rights to sign endorsement contracts, which had
previously been restricted by the NCAA.

Blumenthal hopes Congress can help
further expand the athletes’ rights in 2022.