http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrone_Prothro

This is typical. Guy plays his heart out, wins some big games for his university. He breaks his ankle in a game, and ends any hopes he might have had for getting into the NFL. University of Alabama administrators and coaches made millions of dollars off his contributions to the program. Tyrone Protho meanwhile lands a job as a bank teller.

There is insurance available for instances exactly like that. Can't say I'm any more familiar with it than that and I doubt it covers the totality of lifetime lost wages for a big time nfl or nba contract. I'm against athletes getting paid cash, but I wouldn't see a problem with the school picking up the tab on insurance to cover instances like this. I'm also assuming there's nothing stopping the school from giving the guy a general scholarship to finish his degree.

ITT: HOGG gets mad at the wrong people.

Is your solution for no school to field athletic teams in an effort to protect everyone? Or are we just ignoring that these students are provided bachelor degrees (in a field of their choosing) to fall back on? Almost every college athlete is not going to be a professional in their sport but we don't see millions of former NCAA athletes out there struggling in the world. There are reasons for that.