National Signing Day: My Least Favorite Holiday

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I love college football. The pageantry, the talent, the tradition, the passion: I love it all.

I hate National Signing Day. The build-up, the coverage, the attention, the “drama.” For what?

If you want to point to any day on the calendar that contributes to the growing distaste that many fans have toward the once pure sport, look no further than the first Wednesday in February.

On National Signing Day, highly talented 17-year-old boys get their first taste of stardom, holding press conferences to let the world know where they will be attending college. Without fail, every year has its share of drama, featuring some boys “defecting” from a choice they had made months before. ESPN has every angle covered. “Live look-ins” take viewers from conference rooms full of happy coaches landing the latest blue-chip recruit to high school auditoriums where the starlets are making their commitment (often with their parents signature, because they are too young to legally sign a binding contract!).

And then we wonder, 5 years later, why some of these same boys turn into egocentric self-serving jocks. Why do you think someone like Terrelle Pryor, a former Ohio State recruit who ended up being suspended from college football for selling his autographed paraphernalia, thought he could get away with anything? Why do schools have entire offices dedicated to NCAA compliance, ensuring that athletes don’t break the rules?

We made them this way!!

Our demand for round-the-clock, daily updates about a sport that takes place only 12 Saturdays a year, has turned young athletes into celebrities. And then they behave like celebrities. And just like celebrities, many of these young men handle the spotlight with grace and integrity. They work hard, they get a good education, and they perform on the gridiron.  Others…not so much.

And keep in mind, all this hype is before a boy arrives on campus! He hasn’t even played one down of college football, and speculation already buzzes around who is the next Heisman Trophy winner! It’s no wonder that players are clamoring to get paid. We treat them like superstars, with all the implicit scrutiny, and so only thing missing now is a paycheck. When we give in to the hype of college recruiting, we don’t think for a moment that we are contributing to a complex which robs these children of their youth, slinging them from small town talent to national superstar. We don’t think for a moment that putting these kids on a pedestal will actually make them less likely to continue to pursue excellence.  But we do. These kids are just along for the ride. They love the attention, and I don’t blame them. So if you’re someone who longs for the bygone days of college sports in which recruiting was not something anyone knew about, than one piece of advice: turn off your TV.