A push on Capitol Hill to craft legislation to rein in college sports amid skyrocketing costs and roster upheaval has created strange alliances across both the political and athletic spectrums, as was on display Wednesday at a roundtable hearing to rally support for the Senate’s version.
The head football coaches at the University of Memphis and Middle Tennessee State University are accustomed to being foes on the gridiron and recruiting trails. But on Wednesday, Derek Mason of MTSU and Charles Huff of Memphis were on the same team in support of sweeping changes to collegiate athletics.
Mason said “rules, regulations and order have to be restored” and compared college sports to the movie series depicting a post-apocalyptic battle royale featuring young combatants: “Right now, it feels like the ‘Hunger Games.’”
And Huff said legislation is necessary to tamp down on agents “preying on the naivete” of young student athletes as part of an “arms race.”
They were speaking with what would typically be an unlikely trio: Bill authors Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., along with an original co-sponsor, Chris Coons, D-Del. Their bill got the backing of President Donald Trump.
