Let’s see if we’ve got this straight.
The guy who cuts the quarterback’s hair pays state income tax.
The guy who delivers the quarterback’s mail pays state income tax.
The teacher who spends extra time with the quarterback so that he can meet the necessary academic requirements pays state income taxes.
The coach who has molded the quarterback into a star athlete/prospect pays state income taxes.
But yet there is a proposal out there that would allow the quarterback to not pay state income taxes on his earnings from the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).
Make that make sense.
Louisiana is on its way to becoming the fourth state to exempt those within its borders from paying state income tax on NIL earnings. The other states are Georgia, Alabama and Illinois.
The key words in that last sentence are “Georgia” and “Alabama.” (As if anyone around here cares what goes on in Illinois.)
The “argument” – how loosely can that word be used? – is that it is necessary to keep up so that athletes in other states (^^^) don’t have an advantage.
I’ll assume that State Representative Dixon McMakin (R-Baton Rouge) pays state income taxes, but he doesn’t think state athletes should. He thinks it will make Louisiana athletes more competitive in recruiting, so that’s why he is leading the charge for this.
This is not about LSU in particular, but actually is. It’s a good bet that McMakin didn’t come up with this idea to help out UL-Monroe.
No one is worried about whether this will make the difference in McNeese State picking up a couple of athletes to solidify the defensive backfield. It’s not like Nicholls State and Georgia are going toe-to-toe for a lineman out of Lafourche Parish.
Sure, there are a few who think this is a good (re: necessary) idea because all is fair in love, war and college football recruiting. Do what you gotta do to keep that five-star out of Tuscaloosa.
Before all of you accountants out there try to tell us that “it’s really just a drop in the bucket” and “it’s not really costing the state all that much,” turn up your hearing aid.
Most fans – particularly LSU fans who live and die with the Purple & Gold – despise the fact that NIL even exists in the first place. And the Bryce Underwood saga (an 18-year Michigan high school star who left LSU at the altar over a better NIL deal) certainly didn’t cleanse the palate over how this is all going down these days.
The game that fans in Louisiana have loved for years has changed. Got that. Maybe it’s necessary, but that doesn’t mean it has to be popular. Many look at players as simply financial mercenaries who couldn’t care less about the same university fans have loved for decades.
And now you want them to skip the line on May 15?
There are nine states with no state income tax and all you have to do is turn you head a little bit to the west to find one of them. That’s another “argument” (there’s that word again!) for keeping the playing field level.
But that’s just it. The playing field is never level. Never has been, never will be. There are simply some inherent advantages that some states have over others.
Look, if you want to say that there shouldn’t be any state income tax in Louisiana, go right ahead. But that’s a different matter. This is about whether it’s a good idea to exempt a select group of people – Louisiana athletes, in this case – from what almost everyone else is obligated to do.
And all in the name of being able to complete a crossing route when pressured by a backside zone blitz.
It doesn’t matter if the athlete is getting $10,000 of $1,000,000. It doesn’t matter if it’s Louisiana State or Louisiana Tech. It’s not the money.
It’s the obligation.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com