"Give them 6 bands": 3x SB champ Shannon Sharpe calls out EA Sports’ $600 offer for college athletes

Shannon Sharpe called out EA Sports for its compensation offer to college athletes on the Night Cap Show. EA Sports recently made an offer to 11,000 student-athletes from the 134 FBS programs. They will be depicted in its revived college football franchise, due out this summer.

Former NFL player and three-time Super Bowl champion Sharpe criticized EA's offer on the show:

"EA Sports is bringing back the college football game ... Six hundred ain't no money ... If six thousand, they might have would have got you boy."

Sharpe emphasized the significance of seeing one's name on the back of a jersey in college but suggested a higher compensation.

"Give em six bands! What's six bands?" Sharpe said.

"Just to be in the game though, can you imagine? That's dope man," Chad Johnson said.

Each offer entails $600 and a copy of the game for every scholarship player, regardless of position or school. However, players will not receive royalties from game sales, sparking criticism from the College Football Players Association, which decried the terms as inadequate.

“The athletes of the second most popular sport in America are being treated like children,” the association said.

Despite criticism, the announcement marked a significant moment in resolving one of the first major NIL controversies. EA Sports' last college football game, released 11 years ago, was marred by lawsuits over players' inability to profit from their NIL.

Shannon Sharpe's perspective on Magic Johnson's legacy

In a recent controversy, Shannon Sharpe commented on Magic Johnson's HIV diagnosis, suggesting it affected his perception as the face of the NBA.

"What I was trying to say, like the image," Sharpe said, "because you're like, you didn't know that until, if Magic had never been diagnosed with AIDS, nobody would've knew Magic history."

He compared Johnson's situation to Tiger Woods', highlighting the impact of public image. Despite criticism, Sharpe emphasized the significance of the diagnosis on Johnson's legacy.

“Magic might have been doing what he was doing," Sharpe said, "but the fans didn't know. Sponsors didn't know. There might have been other players that have been the face of the league, but nobody knew what they were doing.”

While some, like Charles Barkley, argue Johnson's legacy transcends his diagnosis, Sharpe contends it shaped perceptions. Despite his continued activism, Johnson's announcement in 1991 marked a turning point in his career. Sharpe's analysis prompts reflection on the interplay between image, perception and reality in sports icons' legacies.