Is the NCAA Zeitgeist Changing?

Comments by John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M university system, offer another data point in the changing views of scholarship athletes and the NCAA. NBC Dallas-Ft. Worth reports:

"I also think that there’s something, you know this is just me talking not as chancellor of the system, something is wrong with the system when we can make money off of our football players, the NCAA make money off of our football players and they can’t be treated like Olympic athletes," Sharp said.

Sharp went on to say that Olympic athletes at A&M are allowed to sell their signatures, but the rest of the student-athletes involved in NCAA programs can't.

"I suspect, courts or somebody or the NCAA is going to have to take a look at that and see whether or not they’re violating someone’s anti-trust deal. How can the NCAA, for instance, make money off of his jerseys and he can’t, you know, make two bucks off of signing something like that, like other athletes can who happen to be in the Olympics. That’s just my opinion," Sharp said.

When a leader like Sharp feels comfortable expressing in public views that previously were only shared in private, then it is a good indication that the time are a-changing.

The video at the top has Sharp's comments in full.