Why Rep. Burgess Owens opposes college athletes becoming school employees

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Rep. Burgess Owens on Thursday said he opposes student-athletes becoming employees of universities and that he’s in favor of the federal government putting more guardrails around payments to college athletes amid a rapidly evolving name, image and likeness environment.

Owens, who played football at the University of Miami and spent a decade in the NFL before entering politics, described athletics as “a real foundation for our country” during an appearance at the University of Utah Hinckley Institute of Politics on Thursday afternoon, as part of the Sutherland Institute’s Congressional Series.

But the congressman said he’s worried about the future of college sports as recent changes have allowed athletes to monetize deals based on name, image and likeness, and a newly effective House Settlement with the NCAA paved the way for athletic programs to pay athletes directly.

“What I’m concerned about with this NIL stuff is: If we’re not careful, we’re going to produce a generation of very self-centered, narcissistic young men,” Owens told the crowd of students. “You put a million (dollars), $2 million every six months into some of these young guys at the age of 18 — 18, they’ve got no idea what character is about — they’re not learning. They don’t have any idea what it is to be committed to a team.”

He said recent changes have “destroyed the culture” around amateur college sports and that he believes players should be prevented from becoming employees of schools. Owens argued that employment would open the door to labor unions and collective bargaining for pay and benefits.

He is the cosponsor of a bill, the Protecting Student Athletes’ Economic Freedom Act of 2025, that would restrict athletes from being employed by institutions, conferences or athletic associations based on participation on a varsity sports team.

“We have to keep this sport as what it is: amateur,” he said.

Owens told KSL.com he is concerned that employing college athletes would introduce more litigation and potential strikes, and that it could set a precedent to start paying or employing even younger athletes.

He said he’s supportive of an executive order from President Donald Trump in an effort to put some guardrails around deals while there’s still time. In addition to the problems he sees with paying student-athletes, Owens also takes issue with new rules about player transfers and said he would like any solution to prevent players from transferring annually and incentivize them to stay with their school for multiple years.

Lawmakers continue to work toward solutions, he said, and a separate bill, the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act would put more regulations in place.

“We have to come together,” he said. “So much is happening. We are trying to figure out how to get back control of it.”

Lawmakers aren’t the only ones looking for clarity on name, image and likeness changes. University of Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said the issue of the transfer portal will likely need federal legislation to address.

“There’s more momentum there than there has been,” he said during a town hall meeting on Saturday. “We expected a bill to pass in the House, here shortly in the Senate. It’s going to have some problems, but both sides, I think, understand that the graduation rates are going to plummet, and we’re going to be where we were in the ’70s … where student-athletes were just not graduating. It’s a shame.”