Extra Points: If you pay them, can you boo them?

Does NIL compensation void the unwritten no booing college athlete theory?

Mr. CFB (Tony Barnhart) and A Jersey Guy (Mark Blaudschun) both love college football, but their viewpoints are often different.

We at TMG are going to explore that each week

Topic: Now that some college athletes can make lots of money while still in college, are they open to vocal criticism from their fans?

A Jersey Guy: It has been an axiom I have followed for the more than 50 years I have been in the business: If you are a fan of a professional team, you have the right to express your displeasure with their performance any way you choose as long as it doesn't get personal.

The athletes you see are paid a lot of money to perform and deserve to be criticized if they don't play well.

But college players, no matter what their status, are still basically kids and "amateurs'' playing for the love of the game, their school, pick a topic.

That changed on July 1 when NIL (Name, Image Licensing) became part of the fabric of college sports.

If you were good or played at a high level school, you could get compensated (as much as you could get.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said that the Tide's new starting QB Bryce Young, a sophomore who had yet to start a game, was already in the million dollar range.

Similar stories came out of Miami, Athens, Ga. and Norman, Oklahoma.

As the late great Keith Jackson had been known to say, "Woah Nelly."

Throw out the age factor. Someone earning a million dollars has moved past the kid stage when they turn 18.

College athlete is a billion dollar business. People make and lose millions of dollars, including a gambling business that was one shunned by the NCAA and is now almost  being embraced..

Boos are acceptable if the performance--interceptions, fumbles, general ineptness--merits it.

It is not a hard and fast rule, but spare me the "they are still kids'' line Mr. CFB, if  that's going to be your defense.

Most of them are, but a handful have crossed into the adult world.

Mr. CFB

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

Of course, Jersey Guy, this is something I would expect from you. But what makes Extra Points work is that I know my role, and that is to pull you back when you go too far.

And when you talk, I assume seriously, about booing college athletes you are hanging way over the side of the boat.

It is a good thing that college athletes can now go into the marketplace and, just like the coaches and administrators, can determine their worth. It's good that some of them are earning some spending money and some are making a lot more than that. We should celebrate it.

But just because a college athlete is earning money doesn't mean he or she ceases to be a student. It doesn't mean they should be treated poorly. Just because some yahoo put a bet down and his team didn't cover, you don't get to boo the student.

And if you think a college player isn't putting forth the right amount of effort, there is an outlet for that. You boo the coach because it is his job to have his team ready to play.

Many years ago when Danny Wuerffel was a freshman at Florida, he was having a bad game. Coach Steve Spurrier pulled Wuerffelout of the game.

"That's okay Danny, it's not your fault," Spurrier said. "It's my fault for putting you in there."

 Wuerffel went on to win a national championship and a Heisman Trophy in 1996. I don't recall him ever getting booed.

I know the world is changing, Jersey Guy and that there is a mindset that if these guys are making money, they are pros. And if they are pros, you can say pretty much any damned thing you want to them.

We're going to have to make a lot of adjustments to accomodate the Brave New World of college football.

But booing kids? No, my friend. That's a bridge too far.

Case closed.