Exactly...
Like the rest of you here I like to play with players who are rated an play like their on field counter-parts. It certainly adds to the game for me.
However I'm not going to indict former players like Keller or O'Bannon in these lawsuits as greedy malcontents who didn't make it at the next level because there is a lot of validity behind their argument.
My alma mater Clemson University drew in $40.4 million in athletic department revenue in the 04-05 season. Student aid expense for those athletes that same period was $6.1 million. Football alone accounted for $22.6 million in revenue while expending $1.8 million in scholarships (this number excludes most of the donor contributions that are dispersed over all sports but the only reason people donate is for good football tickets).
Thus the return on a football scholarship to the University is over 1000%.
I'm not saying an education isn't a great reward for being a student-athlete, but its time to call a spade a spade. College Football a big time revenue machine for the BCS programs and its talent is grossly underpaid for its services. If these players could ever unionize or negotiate collectively as the NFL does, they would certainly get more for their services than a scholarship.
The idealist in me wouldn't mind seeing true student athletes back on the playing field, but then I remember why no one watches Harvard play Yale in football. That's because no one is interested in seeing average athletes play football. We all want the elite athletes to come to our school to glorify our football program and we really could care less if they attend a class or crack a book. As long as they perform on Saturday, we'll get them a degree or at least keep them eligible for 5 years as long as they can contribute to the program.
Don't think these guys generate money solely for the athletic department either. Clemson's applications for enrollment spiked in the late 80's when they were an annual football power. A publicized football program brings in revenue through the gates as well as through the university admissions office.
While my selfish desires to play a realistic video game make me want this lawsuit to fail, my sense of equality leads me to believe that Keller and all the others who support this money making machine deserve their fair share.