I never said anything about them not getting compensated with education, health care, etc... Yet you posted as if I had. I never said they don't get paid. I said they aren't allowed to earn any money while in school to pay for other things.
Now I respond to your post listing everything that comes with a scholarship, and I'm not supposed to do that because you say "Are there still legitimate needs not covered? Yes."? I didn't miss anything in your post. It's just that those eight words are a small fraction of your post that didn't really address the issue I was talking about in any way.
You are correct, the college covers a lot. There are also kids whose parents pay for their education in full. They don't have to work. They show up in BMW's, Mercedes, etc.. They get sent all the money they need to buy whatever they want and go wherever they want.
The point is that the players don't have the freedom to do any of that, even if they want to. Even if they are smart enough to do their schoolwork easily and want to be able to work to earn money. They can't do it and are forced to live under a set of rules that don't apply to anyone else. They can't afford to go on a date or go off campus for anything if it involves money. Not unless their parents can pay for it.
I feel sorry for anybody that has to work their way through college and pay for their own education. I'm not trying to diminish how hard that is to do. Then when they get out of college, they are paying down their college loans for years and sometimes decades. It sucks.
For the record, I always argue with people that say the poor athletes don't get anything for playing football. I'm with you that they get an education paid for along with the room and board, books, food, health care, etc.. I understand that. It's just time for a monthly stipend to allow football players the ability to enjoy everything that every other student can. It's time for these young men to try to learn how to manage money and how to budget for things. Then if they take any money from anybody other than their parents....it should be a major violation with no exceptions.