Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter is leading the effort to unionize football players at the university.
Witnesses for the school challenged union lawyers’ assertions Northwestern football is highly profitable. And they denied other accusations by the union’s star witness, outgoing senior quarterback Kain Colter, that classroom performance is given far less weight than on-the-field success.
The testimony came in a third day of hearings on whether the National Labor Relations Board should approve the Wildcats’ players request to unionize. The first-of-its kind effort is being closely watched by other schools and college athletes nationwide.
Janna Blais, deputy director of athletics for student-athlete welfare, said Northwestern officials are focused on making sure football never undermines players’ studies.
“The basis of everything we do is … academics,” she said. “It is absolutely in our fabric.”
To buttress that point, she said the latest cumulative GPA of the football team was just over 3.0 on a scale of 1 to 4 — a B average. She also said 97 percent of football players get their degrees, which Northwestern says is the highest rate in country.
During testimony earlier this week, Colter charged the school’s approach seems to be, “You fulfill the football requirement and, if you can, you fit in academics.”
