Yeah, this story chaps my ass.
Seven years of helplessness have passed for Stanley Doughty. A cervical spine injury he sustained as a University of South Carolina defensive lineman leaves him living on disability checks from his parents’ home in Louisiana — frustrated, humiliated and broken.
At one point, Doughty lived out of his car for a month. He once had a job at Waffle House but couldn’t keep it because of the burning sensation he felt whenever he lifted plates or reached for a shelf.
“At job interviews they ask if I ever had any injuries,” said Doughty, now 30 years old. “No one wants to put you on a job with a cervical spine injury because you’re a liability. I haven’t been able to do what I need to do to provide for my kids and feed them and clothe them. It’s been devastating.”
If it takes a union threat to get the NCAA to step up and do the right thing, so be it.
Get The Picture 
That would be the correct reason for a union. Shame it will metastasize into a bloated, corrupt entity that self feeds and still fails to cover these situations. How do I know? Relative hurt on the line at a Big 3 motors still treated like this young man despite total domination of the union in his life.
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You are assuming that the a college athletes union will eventually morph into the Teamsters or the UAW, when in reality it probably will probably follow the path of other sports related unions.
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“will metastasize into a bloated, corrupt entity that self feeds and still fails to cover these situations”
Are you sure you’re not talking about management rather than the union being the bloated corrupt entity?
What you describe would seem to be Workers Comp (management’s insurance) and/or any personal injury (management’s other insurance) or product liability (manufactuers’ insurance) separate and apart from Workers Comp.
As far as I know, the UAW (or any related unions) don’t defend management or manufacturers from injury and liability claims, insurance carriers selected by management or manufacturers do that job and they must be doing such a great job that you think it’s union domination.
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You have a very warped view of good/evil. Early head injury perhaps?
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The point is that the NCAA and the schools should be providing health and disability coverage for kids in Doughty’s situation voluntarily already. The NFL provides this for NFL players. There wouldn’t be all this union talk in the first place if the NCAA and the colleges would do the right thing.
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Being on the Selection Committee? One of the hardest jobs in sports.
Making millions as a coach? Earned it the hard way.
Throwing away crippled and/or brain damaged players? Priceless.
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I wonder if SC’s posistion is that he is no longer disabled, or if their posistion is “tough shit, not our problem.” I would guess it is the former. The symptoms he describes are usually impossible to prove or disprove. The government apparantly says he is disabled, but that is a different issue. It does suck that SC or the NCAA does not provide supplemental LTD insurance to all athletes. It usually relies on the government decision and gives access to a better medical network than the crappy Medicaid netowork he is now accessing. I agree with the Senator that the important issues would have been easy to solve if anyone cared. Now, because of these idiots, the pendulum will swing the other way to where the players union will be demanding only Samsung LED flat screens in the locker room and no off-brands.
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He didn’t sue the Sackerlina, he sued the NCAA alleging that it
“breached its duty to protect NCAA football players.”
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Jim Brown is right !
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Anyone who wants to say that the unions are the problem needs to read the countless number of incidents like this one. The NCAA has no right to complain about its fate as it has completely ignored reason and logic for so long.
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This. Im pretty conservative on some things, not so much on others. This one right here deserves a Union that burns up the pockets of the NCAA to there ruin imo.
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their*
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The big picture for football is that it better state getting Informed Consent forms from all the players. SInce CFB is still saying they have no duty to the players other than an education this sh8t is going to get real messy.
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For all the money that gets pissed away every year for football, they really should have a special fund for players who legitimately suffer career ending injuries like this. I mean it is rare that it happens, but the NCAA says they cannot make money of of their image until they go pro, so someone injured never gets to make any money. I am sure the Bama receiver who broke his ankle against UF would like some compensation. I mean ESPN aired his great catch a few games earlier for several seasons, because it was a great catch. However the guy gets nothing for it, even though he will never go to the pros.
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^^This
I do not donate to the Athletic Association, but I would damn sure donate to a fund established for the student athletes that were badly injured. There are not that many of them. It wouldn’t take much money to fund some make-work jobs that pay the guys / gals enough to get by with dignity. If anyone should be paying, it’s those of us who watch them put their bodies on the line for our entertainment.
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I don’t disagree with your sentiment but if anyone should be paying it is the business entities (by that I include the NCAA, the schools and the networks/cable companies) that made BILLIONS–not millions–of dollars off these players without paying them a dime in compensation for their play.
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I understand your sentiment, but I humbly disagree. The reason for my line of thinking is that those business entities are only in a position to make a 10 figure profit because of the demand of fans.
People are willing to donate to the Hartman Fund, buy tickets, concessions, clothing, and other merchandise, endure TV commercials, etc. Fans are willing to pay for, and demand, success on the field / court. They should be willing to pay for the consequences that befall the bodies and minds for the student athletes for whom they cheer. I constantly read / hear people calling for coaching changes, an indoor practice facility, a new arena, etc. I rarely hear someone’s concern about Johnathan Taylor or Decory Bryant. If more fans around the country complained to the Presidents, ADs, and coaches about the treatment of current and former players instead of the lack of MNCs, these guys might receive the care they need and we wouldn’t be talking about unionization.
That is why I give money to the Ten-O club instead of the Gymnastics Endowment Fund. That way, I know my money is going to buy things for the girls and not to the Administrators.
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The biggest issue for student athletes is an injury like this.
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I will say if someone gets ssdi they are disabled. I have seen person after person get denied who truly deserve ssdi to know that if you are approved you are truly disabled. Passing that bar alone should be sufficient to collect from a NCAA fund.
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