Mr. Saban went to Washington, and the world got just what it needed: more unproductive discourse on name, image and likeness and the ills of college sports.
In case you missed it — lucky you — Nick Saban took a break from retirement on Tuesday to participate in the latest Congressional hearing on NIL, believed to be the 1,573rd since July 2021. This one was a roundtable titled “Safeguarding Student-Athletes from NLRB misclassification,” which told you all you needed to know. It was hosted by Sen. Ted Cruz and featured Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips and now-former women’s basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder.
Surely a few current football players — or at least former football players — with a huge stake in this debate were invited but could not attend.
Saban, to his credit, tried to weave a balanced approach. He called NIL “a great concept,” and suggested revenue sharing with athletes. But Saban also voiced deep worries about the system, saying it’s become “pay for play.”
“It’s whoever wants to pay, the most money raised, the most money to buy the most players is going to have the best opportunity to win.”
Ah, that sounds … kinda like it’s already been, just over the table now?
Saban went on:
“You’re…
