In a 2018 study conducted by the NCAA to find the estimated probability of competing in professional athletics, it was found merely 1.6% of all Division I football players in the United States have the chance to make it to the NFL. Even for a football program as successful as Wisconsin’s, many Badgers will enter into post-college life as something other than a professional athlete.
Many media personalities, bloggers or reporters will use this statistic to boost their claim that student athletes should be compensated for their play. The harsh reality of this realization is the vast majority — approximately 99.