Opinion: Nitpicking and professional pressure; NIL will lead to unintended consequences

The drip, drip, drip of professionalism that for decades has leaked into college athletics is about to become a torrent of careful-what-you-wish-for unintended consequences for the athletes.

Is that bad? Not necessarily. Cause and effect can result in unforeseen happy endings. Other times, headaches develop. With every positive there is potential for negative. Welcome to real life, which plays by its own rules.

Those rules often tend more toward the ruthless than the romantic. Whether fairly or not, amateur athletes getting paid based on their celebrity changes how we perceive them. Just as the public looks differently on those volunteering their time compared to those getting paid to show up…