Late last month the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that football players at Northwestern University qualify as employees under federal law and can therefore unionize. The decision has been divisive. While some applaud the move to provide players with more rights and financial compensation, others fear that the collegiate athletic system will be destroyed by the move.
Current State's Emanuele Berry spoke with Robert and Amy McCormick, both Michigan State University law professors emeritus. Together they’ve produced years of scholarship focusing on athletes and their relationship to the NCAA, including the often cited Law Review “The Myth of the Student-Athlete: The College Athlete as Employee.”
Robert McCormick says that football and basketball players have said they work up to 60 hours a week on their sports.