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| Google Kevin Hart. You'll be glad you did. |
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.
