Russell Okung testifies for Fair Pay to Play Act

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Mar 19, 2019
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Chargers left tackle Russell Okung is lending his voice to efforts to compensate college athletes.

According to Gilbert Manzano of the Los Angeles Daily News, Okung testified Tuesday at the California assembly in support of legislation that would allow college athletes to make money from their names and likenesses.

The Fair Pay to Play Act passed through the bipartisan Assembly Higher Education Committee on a 9-0 vote, and will now move to the state’s Appropriations Committee.

“Today, the free-market system in the United States works for everyone but two groups of people, the athlete and the prisoner,” Okung said. “Both parties are provided room, food, board and some even get an education, but most importantly, both parties are denied the right of significant compensation for their labor. By no means am I suggesting that student-athletes are enslaved against their will, but I can’t help but to wonder what crime have they committed to deserve being alienated from the financial fruits of their labor.

“For a moment, please ponder, whose rights do the athletes have more semblance to? Slaves and prisoners? Or the student body?”

Of course, comparing college athletes to slaves or prisoners is a good way to rile up critics (typically those who benefit from the existence of the system as it is). But Okung has long been willing to lend his voice to causes he deems valuable.
 
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