ILLEGAL PROCEDURE OR A FLAWED SYSTEM?
Houston Texans all-pro running back Arian Foster came out with news recently in a soon to be released documentary that he took money on the side during his senior season at the University of Tennessee. He didn’t say how much. He didn’t say how often.
This of course caused a stir because it is illegal in the world of big time college sports. The stories of violations like these come out all the time, and often there are huge ramifications, usually for the school. It’s a big deal. College athletes at any level, in any sport cannot accept anything of any value, or it is a violation of rules and will negate their college eligibility. Same thing if any of these athletes sell anything of theirs for a profit.
Violations usually cause huge problems for the university, and usually nothing for the player who breaks the rules. They are usually long gone and making millions in the pro’s. Reggie Bush lost his Heisman and USC ended up on probation, but it obviously didn’t affect his career. Quarterback Terrell Pryor and his coach, Jim Tressel, left Ohio State due to a scandal like this, but both are fine and working in the NFL. Ohio State ended up on probation. Eric Dickerson had a hall of fame career in the NFL. His SMU Mustangs got the death penalty and, losing college sports for seven years and are only now coming out of it.
The thing is…the rule is ridiculous and hypocritical!.
The NCAA would be nothing without these kids. If there were a well organized minor league system for the NFL and NBA like there is for baseball, it would cripple the NCAA. There is not though, and the NCAA shckles their athletes, who have no other choice, like Kunta Kinte on “Roots”.
Think about it. Let’s say you are a star collegiate running back. You often have been recruited to college out of the inner city, and your single parent doesn’t have much money. You run for 200 plus yards and three long touchdowns to beat your rival school. Over a hundred thousand fans, who paid close to $100 dollars each to get in the stadium to watch, cheer you on. After the game, you sign autographs for hundreds of fans.
Then reality sinks back in. You go to a local restaurant to celebrate and the whole place wants to buy you dinner. You have to say no. You go back to your dorm and find nothing in your fridge. You can’t afford to buy anything to put in it. In fact, even if you could, you would have to take the bus to the grocery store because you can’t afford a car..
And so it goes. Sounds utterly preposterous doesn’t it? Well, that happens every day in collegiate sports. Or I should say, it SHOULD happen, if the NCAA had its way. It doesn’t of course, because most athletes, like Arian Foster, break the rules. They HAVE TO in order to survive. The other way is just not realistic.
If every college athlete lived by the rules to the letter, they could not perform at the proper level. They wouldn’t have the money to support themselves.
What should happen and what will happen are two different things of course.
What should happen is the NCAA should realize how ridiculous thier rules for eligibility are and allow athletes to accept whatever they can get on the side, within reason. They should begin documenting everything and cap all donations from boosters of anything of value at, say, a hundred thousand dollars per player per season. Or fifty. Whatever.
What will happen is….NOTHING. The dance will continue to go on. Athletes will continue to take what they can get on the sly in order to survive their college existence. Every now and then, it will come out that a player did take money or something else when at college, an investigation will ensue, and a huge penalty will be handed out to the college.
Hypocrites don’t like change.
