They are required to put in long hours of hard work for next to nothing, often in hostile conditions, always under the intense scrutiny of their bosses. They are imported from faraway places, then isolated from the rest of the population and ultimately exploited for their sweat. Migrant farm workers? Child seamstresses for Kathie Lee? No, we're talking here about major college-football players.
Hard as it is for some of us to admit, the Dink-Stover-at-Yale days are over. The ideal notion that a lad should just be grateful for the education he receives in exchange for a few hours of practice...