The support among college athletes for unionization might be high, but it's not unanimous. Former South Carolina defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles, one of the top NFL draft prospects at his position, sees trouble brewing with the entire concept.
The National Labor Relations Board's favorable ruling for the College Athletes Players Association has opened the door, pending appeal, for Northwestern athletes to unionize If the movement, led by former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter, takes root, it could spread across private NCAA institutions, which were the specific subject of the ruling, in quick fashion. Quarles, for one, wouldn't want to see public institutions follow.
"I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that at all," Quarles said, according to thestate.com. "That's causing too many problems on a team. What if you have a certain group of guys who wants to go with this union, and then you have another group of guys saying, 'I don't want to be a part of it,'? That's going to create division on the team, first of all, and it's going to create problems and you can't even focus on football."
He went onto describe Colter's movement as "nothing but a problem waiting to happen." Quarles said he believes college football players should be paid, he just isn't a believer that unionization is the way to go about it.
"You are getting a free scholarship and school free, but at the end of the day you are still a human being. You have needs," he added. "You have bills you've got to pay. Some people's families don't have the means to take care of them. I do feel like college players should be paid."
No word on how Quarles feels about joining the NFL Players Association, but he'll be faced with that reality soon enough.
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