Troy Williams is the U’s new starting quarterback. The Salt Lake Tribune recently published a piece on him, praising the exceptional athleticism, work ethic and leadership skills he’s brought to the team. Now, I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities college sports have presented to athletes around the nation who may not have had a chance to go to college otherwise. But at this point, and especially with football, too much time and effort is being put into the game, and not enough emphasis is being put on academics. After all, they are called STUDENT-athletes. And for the vast majority of them, their sport will end with college, they will never make any money off it, and the endless hours they spent on the field and in the gym may prevent them from getting the education they need to succeed after sports.
My dad played football in college, and I have friends now who play as well. And, from what they’ve told me, while they genuinely love the game, they have found themselves questioning whether it’s all worth it in the end. It seems like college football players tend to fall into two categories: either they’ll put all of their time into football and end up in the pros, or they’ll put all of their time into football, get by in school and graduate ill-equipped for a career away from the game that’s consumed them their entire lives. According to Tony Manfred of Business Insider, “Only one sport [baseball] had more than two percent of NCAA players go pro.” Those aren’t fantastic odds for college athletes who are giving up on the education and grades that will stick with them and help them build a career that will sustain them for the rest of their lives after their athletic careers are over.
The last time I checked, colleges and universities set up athletic programs in part to help kids receive higher educations when they don’t have other ways of getting them. While that may remain a surface argument for athletic departments, I think things have gotten out of hand. I’ve seen athletes miss class regularly, and when they do show up they sleep through it.
I can’t blame them. They work out and practice hard for hours on end every single day. And while they have “study hours” and free tutoring, as required, it’s safe to say that after a long day on the field and at the gym, most players aren’t going to have much energy to put into academics.
But what can we do about it? If we force our athletic departments and coaches to ease up on the time they demand from their players, they might risk losing a competitive edge against other teams that are putting in excessive practice hours. It’s up to the NCAA to better regulate the amount of time coaches can demand from their players in a given academic year – my dad talks about how the time demanded should be cut in half. The quality of the game would not noticeably suffer, if players were allowed more focused time in the library than they are currently, and neither would their athletic experiences. Additionally, we’d be doing the 98 percent of student athletes who don’t make it to the pros a favor by allowing them the chance at a fulfilling career to fall into when their athletic “glory days” are over.