Stephen Tsai: College athletes have never had it better

Hey, sorry to break up the nostalgia party, but right here and right now is the best time to be an athlete in America.

Sure, pro athletes get paid Muskian salaries at a time the rest of us are donating platelets for gas money. And, yeah, it’s costly to buy replica jerseys with another man’s name on the back when he changes the team name on the front every three years.

But fair is fair, and now all’s fair. Your grandfather’s baseball idols could not change teams freely because of the reserve clause. Maybe Ernie “Mr. Cub” Banks also wanted to be Mr. Yankee or Mr. Cardinal. He never had the option. Now everybody does. Besides, if loyalty were so important, sports fans would impose no-trade rules in their fantasy leagues.

Back in the day, pro athletes had to work offseason jobs to pay the bills. If Aaron Rodgers were a quarterback in the 1960s, he would have sold you insurance policies instead of appearing in State Farm commercials. The old NFL pension and medical plans were as dated as Slate Rock and Gravel Company’s benefits. Too many old-timers ended up like Oakland Raiders center Jim Otto, whose fingers were so mangled from blocking he eventually had difficulty writing his two-letter surname. Now qualifying NFL players receive well-deserved, long-term coverage long after their final snap.

And it was only last week when the women’s national soccer team finally was assured it would receive the same compensation as their male counterparts. It should have happened earlier since, well, only one of the teams has had the need for a trophy case.

Which brings us to college players in general and University of Hawaii student-athletes in particular. UH has had several lessons on the differences between NCAA life and the real world. In the 1970s, the UH men’s basketball program was placed on probation and reset to rubble after players appeared in a car commercial. The men’s volleyball team was stripped of its 2002 title because one of its players was teammates with a pro player in a European league. It did not matter the player never received payment or that the association occurred three years before he stepped on the Manoa campus. Rules are rules, just like when the NCAA tsk-tsk’d UH, in part because a basketball player “found” a discarded iPad.

The real offense is that not every player had access to a tablet or laptop. Not even tutu uses a notepad anymore.

But all that changed with last year’s ruling allowing student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. Now players do not have to paint houses, work security or, as one player did in the 1990s, sublet his dormitory room for snack money.

The only catch is a school cannot directly orchestrate deals. And that can be an obstacle for those reared in a humbled-and-honored culture, where asking for things for personal gain is a no-no. Unlike other schools, UH does not have a smoothie bar or barbershop in the athletic-performance center. Heck, it does not even have a performance center. Still, UH student-athletes are appreciative of the school’s help in registering for classes and meal plans, as well as providing study halls, tutoring and counseling. Some of the school’s business partners have arranged paid social-media deals for a handful of UH student-athletes. But the NCAA agrees student-athletes are entitled to more.

Requests from UH players have been infrequent. In the final minutes of the football team’s upset of BYU in 2001, the players joined the student section in chanting for cable to be installed in the dorms. In 2007, the Warrior football team pleaded for soap in the locker-room showers. Now, as long as they negotiate on their own and any ads or promotion don’t mention they are affiliated with UH, current Warriors and Wahine can seek NIL compensation that will pay for more than cable, soap and tablets. A free market means student-athletes are free to seek their own deals.

Student-athletes should not wait for help. They are fully capable of self-marketing. They already make their own highlight videos, attend camps for exposure, participate in interview sessions, and attract Twitter followers. And while there are fewer revenue avenues here than at other college communities, there are enough untapped resources.

There are scores of recruiting sites that charge the niele for info. Why can’t a prospect give his recruiting updates and camp schedule … for $8.99 a month?

If it’s a sweltering summer, a star player should practice saying “I love my Fujitsu.”

And no offense to offensive line coaches, but would you rather see him or the starting quarterback or volleyball setter driving a courtesy car?

It’s a name-brand new world. It’s time for student-athletes to cash in.