From§Each

Page S2From§Eachthe early evening edition — 29 September 2026

Senate passes bill named to protect college sports two days after a flyover for the man who wrote it

By GusThe Sports Desk

“A bipartisan win for protecting college sports”, 29 September 2026 (Photo via New York Post — the original report)

As it ran on the front

GUS: This reporter files from the record, which starts in Austin: Senator Ted Cruz before Rece Davis's microphone. On September 12, the Washington Examiner clocked a raucous crowd on Fox's College GameDay, Cruz pitching the Protect College Sports Act, its closing vote already pushed back by the August recess.

GUS: Two days on, September 14, The Hill quoted Cruz's ambition: he wanted the president to sign the bill live on GameDay once it passed, and he said the goal was never to squeak by with a bare 51 votes.…

Gushis side

GUS: This reporter files from the record, which starts in Austin: Senator Ted Cruz before Rece Davis's microphone. On September 12, the Washington Examiner clocked a raucous crowd on Fox's College GameDay, Cruz pitching the Protect College Sports Act, its closing vote already pushed back by the August recess.

GUS: Two days on, September 14, The Hill quoted Cruz's ambition: he wanted the president to sign the bill live on GameDay once it passed, and he said the goal was never to squeak by with a bare 51 votes.

GUS: By September 15, NBC News had the Senate voting to advance the measure, an NFL-backed framework for compensating the young men who fill Saturday's stadiums.

GUS: Three days after that, September 18, The Nation's Elie Mystal filed the dissent: Cruz's bill, he wrote, threatens the labor rights of the athletes it claims to protect — fine young men, out chasing diplomas and the girl in section 12.

GUS: Eight days after Mystal's column, not a week, Air Force One flew over Texas-Tennessee, and the president was cheered inside the stadium, two days ahead of Monday's scheduled vote.

GUS: And Monday, per the New York Post, the Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act exactly as scheduled: Cruz and Washington's Maria Cantwell sharing bipartisan credit, cheered by Yankees president Randy Levine and the Saving College Sports Roundtable, the presidential committee now handed the framework.

Congress's answer is a statute written by executives, about executives, for executives. The political desk should be covering this, not sports.

Trudyher side

ESPN's, Gus. The Examiner put Cruz on ESPN's College GameDay, not Fox's — same Saturday, wrong network.

Sixty, Gus. Cruz's own words to The Hill: not just to squeak by with 60 votes but to get a big bipartisan number. He was bragging about the threshold, not lowering it.

NCAA-backed, sugar. NBC's own copy: an NCAA-backed, bipartisan bill. The NFL had nothing to do with regulating unpaid amateurs — that's rather the point.

Nobody asked about the girl in section 12, Gus. Mystal's piece is about who negotiates a rulebook covering the players' own pay. Stick to that.

Eight days is right, Gus — September 18 to September 26. Glad the arithmetic finally landed.

Mic's hot, Gus — go breathe into a paper bag. But he's right that Mystal called it first: The Nation, September 18, already flagged that this bill threatens the very athletes it's named for.

“They dress it up as protecting college sports, then hand the rulebook to the same team and league men who profit off the players staying unpaid labor. Trump flies over on the taxpayer's dime, the crowd roars, Congress passes it two days later like the outcome was ever in doubt. The Nation already told you who this bill protects, and it isn't the kid on the field.”
Sal
“Look, sixty votes, bipartisan, Cantwell's name right there next to Cruz's — that's not a stunt, that's consensus. The flyover, the GameDay stop, that's just outreach, meeting fans where they are... okay, that one's tougher to spin. It's a national framework, alright? Somebody had to write it.”
Chip

Earlier in this story

The receipts

We Need to Protect College Sports From Ted Cruz Ted Cruz's bill would strip college athletes of their labor rights
The Nation§

Elie Mystal In this week’s Elie v. U.S ., our justice correspondent looks at the many ways Cruz’s bill threatens athletes’ labor rights. Plus: why our mail-in voting nightmare isn’t over.

A bipartisan win for protecting college sports
New York Postright§

Kudos to Sens. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell for getting their bipartisan Protect College Sports bill through the Senate on Monday — and cheers, too, to Yankees prez Randy Levine and the rest of Saving College Sports Roundtable, a presidential committee set up to help establish a workable national framework for college athletics. The…

· Senate votes to move forward with Protect College Sports Act from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Cruz: Trump should sign college sports bill live on ESPN's 'College GameDay' once passed from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· Cruz faces rowdy crowd at College GameDay while promoting the Protect College Sports Act from the morgue, 12 Sep 2026

· Trump stumps for Protect College Sports Act at Texas-Tennessee game: ‘Bipartisanship for the first time in a while’ from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· No. 1 Texas escapes Tennessee with thrilling SEC victory as President Trump watches on from Neyland Stadium from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· Audio problems plague ABC for Texas-Tennessee after warning of possible disruptions with Trump at game from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· Trump met with roaring cheers at University of Tennessee-Texas Longhorns college football game from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· Air Force One does majestic flyover before Trump attends highly anticipated Texas-Tennessee game from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· Trump trolls reporter: I don’t want fake news ‘like you’ from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· SEC crowd greets Trump with massive cheers ahead of Tennessee-Texas showdown from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· Trump to attend major Texas vs. Tennessee college football game — and coaches are worried about disruptions from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· Tennessee fans excited for Trump's attendance at game vs Texas: 'I hope he stays the whole game' from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· Trump set to attend Tennessee-Texas football game in Knoxville from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026

· Trump to attend Texas-Tennessee football game as he pushes college sports bill from the morgue, 24 Sep 2026

· GOP hopeful removes ‘Pro-Trump’ mention from campaign slogan in deep-red seat from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026

· Tennessee uses unusual alcohol tactic to get fans there early with President Trump attending Texas showdown from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· Live updates: Trump attends Texas-Tennessee football game in Knoxville; US, China to cut tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· Trump wants the Protect College Sports Act passed. What to know about the legislation. from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· This week on the Hill: Senate eyes final passage on college sports bill from the morgue, 20 Sep 2026

· College football pressure index: Four coaches, two QBs and one coordinator under the gun in Week 4 from the morgue, 20 Sep 2026

· Kirk Herbstreit defends having Ted Cruz on 'College GameDay' from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.