Congressman Burgess Owens says he would not pay college athletes ‘if I had a choice’

In a short interview about college athletics, Congressman Burgess Owens said he would not support paying college athletes “if I had a choice.”

Owens, a U.S. representative, framed the debate as a cultural shift he said could harm character-building in college sports. “We’re now having where, athletes kind of drive the process. If they if the coach says something they don't like, if it gets too tough, they go into portal and they leave,” Owens said. “And we're losing that idea of grit and tenacity and loyalty.”

The interviewer asked whether payment for athletes might force cuts to other sports programs to fund athlete compensation. Owens said that was “another piece of it,” warning of “a lot of chaos” as the system changes and saying, “You can't put the genie back in the bottle.”

Asked directly whether he would pay college athletes now, Owens replied, “Well, if I had a choice, I'd say no.”

The exchange focused on opinions and possible consequences rather than on a specific bill, vote or formal policy action. No statute, ordinance or legislative motion was discussed during the excerpted remarks.

Discussion points in the interview included the rise of the transfer portal as a driver of athlete movement, concerns about long-term cultural effects on student-athletes and the possibility that funding athlete pay could come at the expense of other collegiate sports. Owens also expressed hope for a “unified process” that would be “fair across the board to all colleges, to all athletes,” but did not outline a specific mechanism.

The interview did not include any formal action, directives, or endorsement of legislation; it recorded Owens’ personal views when asked about athlete pay.