stating that the schools will pay the players at some point in the future. They are just working out the details. He didn't say which sports, but I'm assuming he meant football (not sure about basketball). Once the Big Ten pulls that trigger, then you can bet the SEC will follow suit or beat the Big Ten to the punch. At that point you can expect them to drop the educational requirements and likely the eligibility window. Also, it makes even less sense for the Big Ten and SEC to continue competing against the other colleges/universities that don't pay their athletes a salary. If a player can remain at Penn State for 10-15 years, then that is one less player available to the NFL teams. Now I'm not saying the NFL will view this whatever as a threat like it viewed the USFL 1.0. However, it could have a noticeable impact on the NFL's business model because the whatever would have first crack at the players straight out of HS. If the NFL wants to entice the players to leave the whatever for the NFL at the end of their contract, then the NFL could be forced to overpay them again like what was happening before the rookie salary scale was included in the CBA. Hence why I suggested a minor league for the NFL. Fans of the schools will still be fans because they are fans of the name on the front of the jersey and not the individual players. While the NFL fans would be fans of the minor league team because of the NFL players playing on those teams. Plus, if VT and the other schools not included in the whatever could still have their players drafted by the NFL team and possibly the whatever team. So if a VT player is drafted by a NFL team and then sent to the minors or drafted by a minor league team, then you don't a decent number of Hokie fans would tune in to watch former VT players play? I do.