Elise Wilson Wilson 1

Professor Sarah Kiewitz

English 1101-1Ev1

24 October 2021

Exploitation of US college athletes

College athletics, specifically the NCAA, is one of the most popular athletic organizations

in america. In fact, many people tend to glorify it. Tim Nevius, a former NCAA baseball player,

and NCAA investigator, was able to experience first hand the issues in the league. Nevius is

now a lawyer and helps student athletes with different legal issues that may occur. In His TED

talk, he does well at uncovering the harsh truths of being a student athlete.

At the beginning of Nevius’ talk, he gives the audience an anecdote addressing the

problem in which the speech is about. After telling the story, he explains how this story ties into

the big idea. . “After the dramatic win, undergraduate application rates at Boston College shot

up by 30 percent, revealing to universities the enormous marketing value of building high-profile

sports programs.” (Nevius) He does this before He gives any credibility to himself, which I

thought was interesting. In fact, Nevius doesn't make himself credible in any way until the

middle of his talk. All he does is throw in a few bar graphs and tell the audience a few facts

about the exploitation of athletes.

Nevius isn't a very interesting speaker, but his topic is rather fascinating. When he

speaks, he doesn't have very much emotion and speaks in the same tone of voice the whole

time. But if you are interested in law, or even college athletics, this talk is interesting. He

addresses many problems that occur in the NCAA, such as how many student athletes aren't
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getting the education they need and are constantly at risk of losing scholarships. “Now, some

people believe college athletes get a free ride. However, there is nothing free about risking

health and safety while working 40 to 50 hours per week as you fight to keep your scholarship.”

(Nevius) He also informs the listeners on the many ways these student athletes are getting

exploited. Although before he does this, Nevius gives some background on his credibility.

Nevius informs the audience that He was a former investigator for the NCAA and is now

a lawyer fighting for student athletes. Nevius continues to say that he used to be the one making

sure no student athlete was making money and that they were following the guidelines of the

NCAA. He was very credible in this area and gave examples of when He had to punish athletes

for not following guidelines. “The players were suspended and had to repay the cash as well as

the value of the tattoos. In effect, unpaid athletes were fined by a billion-dollar organization that

gets paid by sponsors to decorate the athletes in corporate logos. I was told my job was to

promote fairness, but there was nothing fair about that” (Nevius). He then goes on to explain

that he left the NCAA and became a lawyer fighting for the athletes.

When Nevius goes into the details on what he does now, he gives many examples and

statistics on how these athletes are getting cheated. Nevius seems very disturbed when talking

about these facts, and sad that these things are happening. “The time demands and required

focus on sports makes it challenging for even the most well-intentioned athlete to get a

meaningful education. This is unacceptable for a 15 dollar billion industry run by institutions

whose mission is to educate young people” (Nevius). He does well at describing his intentions

and expressing the care he has for athletes. Nevius is still fighting for college athletes and

desires for them to be successful. This talk was very informative and provided important

information for high school student athletes who may want to play in college.
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Although Nevius may be a boring speaker, he does well at presenting his point. He was

able to uncover every fact and detail about what he found out doing his job, while showing

empathy. Although he never engaged with the audience, they were able to share the same

frustration he had. Learning about Nevius’ hard work and the passions He has toward this topic

is encouraging. Knowing that someone is trying to help these student athletes and giving them

the recognition they deserve makes me hopeful.

 Works Cited

Nevius, Tim, director. TED,

https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_nevius_the_exploitation_of_us_college_athletes. Accessed

24 Oct. 2021.