WASHINGTON, DC — Sen. Maria Cantwell wasted no time.
In fact, in her very first question at Wednesday’s Senate hearing on athlete compensation, the junior senator from Washington touched on what has been, so far, the biggest hurdle in reaching a compromise between Republicans and Democrats on a bi-partisan college athletes rights bill.
From her pulpit inside a lavish, marble walled Senate meeting room, Cantwell asked NCAA president Mark Emmert if his governing body could help small, low-resource schools fund what may be requirements under a federal bill: expanding healthcare and scholarships for former athletes.
A winding and sometimes rambling answer from the NCAA president produced two relevant words.