Being a star college football player isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes, it’s downright awful.
Michigan defensive back Jabrill Peppers, a highly rated recruit from 2014, gave his Twitter followers a brief glimpse into the difficulty amateur athletes face. “I just wanna keep my fridge and cabinets full so I can eat.”
Is that bad? That sounds bad.
https://twitter.com/JabrillPeppers/status/603351499687727105
I'm about to eat my first meal of the day & that's Oodles and noodles smh
— JP5 (@JabrillPeppers) May 27, 2015
It ain't funny bro lol I'm over here hurting, this my last one out the 12 pack https://t.co/Ql15LDRpKS
— JP5 (@JabrillPeppers) May 27, 2015
People make a story out of anything. Idc about getting paid, I just wanna keep my fridge & cabinets full so I can eat. Point blank.
— JP5 (@JabrillPeppers) May 27, 2015
Peppers just finished his freshman year at Michigan, and it appears from his tweet that he’s moved out of university housing. Sure, it’s easier to get food in the dorms, but athletes are given a monthly stipend to use at their discretion.
Per the NCAA (via MGoBlog):
15.2.2.1 Off-Campus Room and Board Stipend.
If a student-athlete lives and eats in noninstitutional facilities, the institution may provide the student-athlete an amount equal to the institution’s official on-campus room allowance as listed in its catalog, the average of the room costs of all of its students living on campus or the cost of room as calculated based on its policies and procedures for calculating the cost of attendance for all students. The institution also may provide the student-athlete an amount that is equivalent to an on-campus 7-day or 21-meal board plan or the cost of meals as calculated based on its policies and procedures for calculating the cost of attendance for all students, excluding those meals provided as part of the training table. Meals provided on the training table shall be deducted at the regular cost figure from such a student-athlete’s board allowance.
So, who knows what’s going on here. On one hand, athletes are treated like poop by the NCAA. This is hardly the first time you’ve heard that, and this is hardly the first time an amateur athlete has complained about a lack of food. On the other, college is about becoming an adult and handling otherwise difficult situations, financial or otherwise.
Sounds like there’s a little of both going on here.
