Kain Colter Testifies in NLRB Hearing: Northwestern Football Was 'A Job, No Way Around It'

Former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter testified Tuesday in a hearing to establish a player's union in college sports that his scholarship was a form of payment in exchange for his on-field play.

According to the Associated Press, Colter also testified that some schools make it clear to athletes that athletics are more important than academics. The hearing is conducted by the National Labor Rights Board (NLRB) and has featured testimonies from both Northwestern University and from the school's football team.

Led by Colter, the team started a movement to implement a labor union in college sports, starting at Northwestern. On behalf of the group, Ramoga Huma, the National College Players Association (NCPA) president, filed a petition with the Chicago branch of the NLRB to form a union for student-athletes to negotiate benefits.

"It's a job, there is no way around it - it's a job," Colter, a 21-year-old senior at Northwestern who will not play another snap of college football, said at the hearing.

He was also asked about his $75,000 scholarship and why it was offered to him.

"To play football," he said. "To perform an athletic service."

The College Athletes Players Association (CAPA), co-founded by Colter, called David Berri, a sports economist at Southern Utah University, to the stand Wednesday. According to the Chicago Tribune, when asked by a CAPA attorney if college football had become a business, Berri said it "absolutely" had.

Attorneys for Northwestern, however, questioned Berri's credentials and also why his research should be considered relevant. Northwestern argued that athletic participation is educational and events such as football games therefore are not commercial enterprises.

Colter said he sometimes had to devote 50-60 hours a week to football for practices and other team events. He also argued that because football requires an athlete to endure a physical toll, athletes need to be protected in the event of an injury.

Colter's academic success, although somewhat rare among Division I athletes, may be used against his cause. The New York Times reported that Northwestern's attorneys said that because Colter held a 3.0 GPA, was named all academic in the Big Ten multiple times and took challenging courses, he was not prevented from studying.

Athletes like Colter are not so common when many top athletes leave college before graduating, which the former Northwestern player is doing so ahead of schedule. Top prospects like Andrew Luck, who finished his degree before being drafted first overall, are not common.

"It makes it hard for you to succeed," Colter said on the stand. "You can't ever reach your academic potential with the time demands. You have to sacrifice, and we're not allowed to sacrifice football."