Former Bloomington High and Eastern Illinois football standout Adrian Arrington is among a growing number of players complaining about symptoms that may be concussion-related. In fact, Arrington initiated a still-pending class-action lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association, alleging the governing body doesn't do enough to protect student-athletes.
Arrington is helping to promote the documentary The Business of Amateurs. It's a film directed by former USC Football player Bob DeMars that challenges the NCAA's "student-athlete" model. It plays April 25 at Galaxy 14 Cinema in Bloomington. Arrington says that though he appreciates the educational opportunity he received as a student playing a sport he loved, many schools take advantage of that passion.
“Examples include coaches putting their hands on student-athletes. Not educating us about our health care ... what our health care entitles us to. Are you going to use our parents insurance? Some kids aren’t even educated on that fact that your scholarship isn’t automatically renewed. And that’s something you have to tell kids.”
Arrington feels the NCAA is negligent for not clearly conveying this and other pertinent information to students and their parents before they get to college. He says because student-athletes are essentially commercial products on the schools playing field or court, those athletes need guarantees or some kind of compensation. That’s the premise of the film Arrington is promoting. He says that view wasn’t apparent to him until he got to campus.
“I want kids and parents to understand when you sign that scholarship or go to play for a school, you have to understand these coaches are out there fighting to get a better job. And at the end of the day, if those coaches don’t get the wins they should, or the wins their contract says they should get, they’ll lose their jobs.”
Arrington says he views college athletic scholarships for the major revenue producing sports of football and basketball not so much as a scholarship, but more like “free labor.”
“The student-athlete is held to so much accountability, it’s a shame. If a student-athlete is caught smoking marijuana or gets arrested, they are put on ESPN and all these other stations 24 hours a day for every mistake they make. Like they’re making millions and millions of dollars. You are treating these young kids like they’re employees, but at the same time they have no rights. You can’t embarrass these kids like this because they’re making young mistakes.”
On the flip side it could be argued that when an athlete does very well on the field or court, they get a lot of positive exposure. Arrington dismisses that idea, saying the exposure is well deserved.
“We’re on TV playing those games. We’re bringing in that revenue to those networks, to our schools, to those coaches getting six million dollar contracts. I’m out there putting my body on the line getting up early in the morning earning that scholarship.”
Arrington is also the focus of a previous documentary titled “Work Horses.” That film details the debilitating effects the five concussions he sustained during his college football career has had on his life, and his finances.
“I only saw this on film and what my people have told me, because I was knocked out and I don’t remember these games. There were times from what I’ve seen on film, I hit a guy coming across the middle (of the field) and I was knocked out cold. Five or six plays later, I’m back in that game. If I’m knocked unconscious, there is no way you put that child back in that game if you as the NCAA feel the health of the child is the number one concern. That’s negligence by the NCAA and the institution. The last time that happened, my father came down from the stands and told the coach he wasn’t going to allow him to put me back in the game.”
Despite his lawsuit against the NCAA and his work promoting “The Business of Amateurs,” Arrington says his goal isn’t the abolition of the governing body, or to take sports out of the university setting. Instead, he says college sports, especially the high revenue sports of football and basketball, should be called for what it is: A business.
“This is something that’s very important to me and I don’t want people to think Adrian Arrington is just about the concussion lawsuit. I’m here to encourage kids to keep dreaming, that you can be a great athlete and get your schooling paid for. It is a great thing and a great opportunity. But also understand your self-worth as a person and as a student-athlete. And understand the future of your life, and your family’s life.”
At the screening of "The Business of Amateurs" April 25, Arrington says he will honor local coaches and mentors Dodie Dunson Sr and William Hosea Jr for their contributions to the community and for their work with local youth. Arrington and the films director Bob DeMars will host a questions and answer session following the movie.
Arrington has a degree in Recreation from Eastern Illinois University. He says his passion is working with kids, something he gained from his parents, as well as Dunson and Hosea.