Is it finally time to start paying college athletes?

NCAA revenue in 2011-12: $871.6 million. Student athletes' cut: $0.

Johnny Manziel
(Image credit: (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images))

Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel has already led Texas A&M to two blowout victories this year. Yet the biggest story of the young college football season is not Manziel's bid to become only the second player to ever repeat as Heisman champ, but rather whether he should have been allowed to make a few thousands bucks for signing his name on a bunch of tchotkes.

Yes, with the return of college football has come the perennial argument over whether student athletes should be paid. On the one side, some say college players are already compensated plenty in scholarships and on-campus perks. On the other, critics of the enormous money machine that is the NCAA say it's laughable that "everyone in the business of college sports gets rich except the players," as the New York Times' Joe Nocera puts it.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.