Wrongheaded argument. The scandals that rock confidence aren't about the linemen who get paid $50 an hour to work on a carlot. They're about Reggie Bush and Santonio Holmes, game changers who are lured into schools and drafts by relatively big bucks from boosters and agents. For those guys, a stipend of "a few thousand dollars" isn't going to do it. All that's going to do is raise their NCAA "market value".
Having said that, the stipend idea is a great way to ease the burden for the bulk of NCAA athletes at places like Ohio University. Current NCAA rules on work, gifts and expenses make it hard to be an athlete. Let's help the guys who need it and be honest doing it. We don't have to concoct some scheme about eliminating cheats to make a good idea sound better.
Exactly. Reggie Bush wants paid more than Jonathan Goodwin on the Saints. He'd want paid more on the college level as well.