This is the first story in the series Turf Wars, documenting how the pay-for-play era exploits many athletes.
What threatened to become the first mass walkout over pay in modern college football unfolded on Sept. 29, 2023, at a Marriott in Iowa City, Iowa. As team members from the visiting Spartans of Michigan State University gathered in the lobby the evening before their game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, the mood was charged with anxiety. “Man, they pulled all the money from us,” one player said, according to a person who was there and who asked for anonymity to protect their ...