But if you can’t hope to get a big payday from the NFL, why would you play college ball? To get free tuition for a joke of a degree that won’t get you a gig at Walmart? I doubt it. If the NFL goes belly up, NCAAF will either have to start paying ita players or face extinction.
College Football did just fine before the NFL made it big. NFL players used to have to get jobs in the off-season.
Getting a free ride to college is still a rather big pay-day of sorts. You do have a point though. The quality of college ball may take a hit, as the type of person who was formerly there for an NFL contract down the road, probably wouldn’t be interested any longer.