An NFL quarterback turned football executive told a University of Toledo audience Monday there is a need to find “proper tension” between money and educational and athletic goals in college sports.

“The system is not set up in a way that is benefiting enough people,” said Andrew Luck, general manager of Stanford University’s football-team. “And it does seem like college football and basketball, especially top-level, are the two sort of economic behemoths of this. And maybe education is not getting value as it should be everywhere.”

Mr. Luck, 35, who played football at Stanford and in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts, talked during a panel discussion at UT’s Doermann Theater.  

Sponsored by the University of Toledo and The Blade, the second installment of the Perspective series drew on the diverse athletic experiences of four panelists who discussed “The Cultural and Economic Impact of Sports.” Organizers estimated at least 300 people attended the event. 

Another panelist, Nick Lowery, a Kansas City Chiefs hall-of-famer, linked the NCAA’s name, image, and likeness rules to the professionalization of college sports. He noted that the values traditionally taught in sports at times take a back seat to money.

Introduced by the NCAA in 2021, the new rules allow college athletes to make money for the use of their name, image or likeness.

Panelist Steve Stoute, president of Canisius University in Buffalo and a former student-athlete, called on the attendees to think critically about how institutions approach their athletic programs while monetary interests are in play.

Fellow panelist, Peter Roby, said colleges and universities face hard choices as a result of the professionalization of college sports. The temptation could be for institutions to stray from the purposes of higher education, he said. Throughout his career, Mr. Roby, has been a coach, a sports marketing executive, an athletic director, and a NCAA senior consultant.

Mr. Luck, who played college football long before players could earn money at it, said it was about time.

“I am so happy that young men and women can can make money off their name, image and likeness in college,” Mr. Luck said. “It's a long time coming. I also think that revenue share is the right thing to do, especially in major college sports.”

“College football is big, big, big, big business, and it’s not like head football coaches are making the salary of a professor,” he said. “They’re making $10-, $11-, $12-, $13 million, and I think it is always right and fair that those young men on the field ... or gals playing basketball, are allowed to participate in receiving a cut match.”

Mr. Luck said college sports is nevertheless not currently in a state where it’s satisfying enough stakeholders. And it does not adhere enough “to the values that make college sports so special, especially in America.” 

“And I actually think the Ivy leagues are going to be an interesting sort of case study as ebbs and flows,” said Mr. Luck before leaving early to catch a flight. “... But I will say from my seat as the general manager — and I don’t mean this in a snotty and elitist way — We’re going to survive this.

“We’re going to have to learn how to get education, athletics and the financial part — you know, getting paid to play big time — in a proper tension. We’re going to have to,” he said, because “too much money is made on college football, for me to say [to college players], ‘You don’t deserve a cut of that.’”

The discussion was moderated by David Shribman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning, nationally syndicated columnist and executive editor emeritus of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bryan Blair, UT vice president for intercollegiate athletics and director of athletics, delivered opening remarks.

Mr. Blair said discussions like Monday night’s about the future of sports can have transformational impact locally, both for students and for the wider community.

First Published February 4, 2025, 3:21 a.m.