Richard Sherman wants the new law passed by the state of California to change the college game. On Monday, California signed a new law that will allow college athletes in the state to hire agents and get paid through endorsements. When the veteran San Francisco 49ers cornerback was asked about his thoughts on the new law, he was 100 percent behind the move.
“I hope it destroys the NCAA in general because I think it’s corrupt and it’s a bunch of people taking advantage of kids, and doing it under a mask of ‘fair play,’” Sherman said, via The Mercury News. “Even the things they’re suspending these kids for are ridiculous. You’re suspending kids for YouTube channels and they’re saying, ‘Oh it’s because other kids can’t do it.’”
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Sherman went on to say that more states will begin to pass the same law now that California has done it.
“If California has it, Texas and Florida have to have it,” he said, “Because in Alabama, it’s college football, so they won’t let all these college athletes just go to California, so they’ll change the law, and once that changes, the NCAA will change its tune, I’m sure.”
Sherman played college football at Stanford which is in California. Stanford is a member of the Pac-12 Conference which recently released a statement on the new law.
“The Pac-12 is disappointed in the passage of SB 206 and believes it will have very significant negative consequences for our student-athletes and broader universities in California,” it said in a statement. “This legislation will lead to the professionalization of college sports and many unintended consequences related to this professionalism, imposes a state law that conflicts with national rules, will blur the lines for how California universities recruit student-athletes and compete nationally, and will likely reduce resources and opportunities for student-athletes in Olympic sports and have a negative disparate impact on female student-athletes.”
California Governor Gavin Newson signed the bill and he’s on the same page as Sherman when it comes to more states following California’s lead.
“It’s going to initiate dozens of other states to introduce similar legislation,” Newsom said on the Uninterrupted talk show The Shop according to the Los Angeles Times. “And it’s going to change college sports for the better by having now the interest finally of the athletes on par with the interests of the institution. Now we are rebalancing that power.”
