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Jake Butt: My injury shows why NCAA should pay athletes

Logan Bowles / USA TODAY Sports

Tearing his ACL in his last college game could cost Jake Butt millions, and that's among the reasons he believes the NCAA should pay its student-athletes.

"I should be the example of why college athletes should be getting paid in college or why I can't use my name to benefit off my likeness in college," the Michigan alum said Friday at his Pro Day, according to ESPN.

Butt emerged as one of the top tight end prospects in the country before his devastating injury, and was projected to be a first- or second-round pick.

Though he said he's ahead of schedule in his recovery, he could drop several rounds in the April draft, setting him up for a much smaller payday. But that's not the only reason he believes student-athletes deserve some coin.

"Why can I see 'I Like Jake Butt and I Cannot Lie,' I see those shirts and I'm living paycheck-to-paycheck in college," Butt said. "Who knows? Heaven forbid something happens in the NFL, can I really benefit off of it when it was at the most? No, I can't."

Butt accounted for 1,646 yards and 11 touchdowns in his Michigan career, but the four-year college player didn't make a dollar off his accomplishments.

"They said I can't go down the street, the example one of them gave us is you can't go to (get) tires and negotiate your price from $600 to $500 because that's only because of your name. But Joe Schmo can go down the street and he can negotiate his price. It's kind of ridiculous to me."

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