Today's blog was written by Noah. Noah is a sophomore computer science major and a student in the Social Foundations of Coaching, a course taught by Play Like a Champion founding director Professor Clark Power and Program Director Kristin Sheehan.
As stories pour in from Columbia,
Missouri, it is difficult to draw something positive from what is seen.
Students receiving death threats, reporters being attacked—an entire college
campus on edge. With all of the issues stirring, I want to focus not on the
overwhelming problems in play on all sides, but on what we can draw from this
experience.
As a disclaimer, I do not know whether Mr.
Wolfe’s decisions deserved the sort of outrage that has ensued at the
University of Missouri. I do not wish to make this story about defending Mr.
Wolfe. I am not promoting what the Mizzou students have done. This is in no way
a promotion of Concerned Students 1950. This is not an article about racism. I
wish to make it about a decision made by one man who, in a time of adversity,
stood up for those who look up to him so much: University of Missouri head
football coach Gary Pinkel.
When we see college athletes, on our own
campus or on TV, we do not look at them as students. Do you really look at, for
example, Cardale Jones and wonder how he is doing in his math class? Probably
not. I never have. The things about modern college athletics is the giant rift
between the average football student-athlete and the average student is growing at an alarming rate. At some universities, students are given
special housing, special classes, special dining privileges—I am not arguing
that any of this is wrong, I am just saying that it exists and further pushes
the football player from the student body. You see them play on Saturday and
rarely think of them as students. They are often better-known representatives of a
university than the president or board of trustees; they have an immeasurable
impact. That being said, their influence is dampened and they are often told to
not make rash decisions, to not say something that may be deemed extreme or
contrary, to not embarrass the university, to always present themselves in a
clean image. With this, I would ask if then they are really even treated as
students. College is a time when young people have the opportunity to try new
things and, as would be expected, mess up. A time to be right and a time to be
wrong. A time to make something of yourself. A time to define yourself beyond
just a degree and a number. A time to become yourself.
In my opinion, Gary Pinkel, the man “in charge” of the
players did exactly what he should have when the players said they wanted to
boycott the game. He did nothing. He treated them as students. He treated them
as people who can make their own decisions and portray themselves as they deem
appropriate. Although disagreements arise over whether what they did was
justified or exceeded acceptable limits, they have just as much a right to a
voice on that campus as any other student.
This is a step forward. I hope football
players and other student-athletes are encouraged to get more involved in the
daily life of their universities, although not in such a dramatic manner.
Whatever happens in Missouri over the next few months, one thing is for
certain: Coach Pinkel sent a message. A message that will reverberate
throughout the entire college football landscape. It seems ridiculously simple.
Student-athletes are students.
