Texas IS NOT Paying Each Athlete $10,000, But AD Steve Patterson Said They Might if UT Loses in Court

Talk about lost in translation: The Dallas Morning News was at a forum in Washington D.C. Wednesday where Texas AD Steve Patterson talked about paying student-athletes $10,000 to cover “college expenses that aren’t covered by a traditional full scholarship” and “compensation for the university’s use of his image.” But the Morning News story led to even more questions – does the $10k cover just football and basketball players, or all athletes, including the volleyball team?

Furthermore, it’s all wrong! At the forum, Texas AD Steve Patterson did talk about paying athletes $10,000. But that would only happen if UT loses in court.

From Texas 24/7 sports:

"Texas spokesman Nick Voinis, when asked by Horns247 to clarify the context of the article, said the question Patterson was addressing was, “How much would it cost if [they] lost all appeals?” “What he said was, based on the [O’Bannon vs. NCAA] decision and the additional food cost, the total bill would be about [$10,000] per student per year,” Voinis said."

Still, Patterson’s $10k number is going to get massive pickup and generate an interesting discussion:

* Sure, Texas, with the Longhorn Network, and a rich, successful sports history, can afford $10k per athlete (they claim giving that figure to all athletes adds up to $6 million). But can Wake Forest do that? What about Iowa State?
* If $5k goes to cover “miscellaneous” expenses, and $5k goes to cover “likeness,” what’s the point of giving every student-athlete $5k for the latter? Only a handful of athletes could profit off their likeness (mostly football/basketball players).
* Taking this a step further: How could anyone say that $10k to Manziel/Winston/Gurley makes sense when every track and field athlete or swimmer is getting $10k?
* The $10k figure that has been floated isn’t a bad place to start, but just like in the NFL/NBA, the stars make more than the role players and the reserves. And in college football, the conferences all have different TV deals. The coaches all have different salaries. So do all the assistant coaches. Why give one flat fee to all athletes? How’s that going to hold up in court?