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There is so much uneasiness about college football today, and while I

am comfortable with paying the players, shouldn’t there be some guardrails

and some respect for the grand ole game’s traditions? Some structure and

some overseeing body to bring about common sense regulation.

 

One of the greatest tradeoffs in the history of this great nation is

being able to play a sport for a free education in return. Football was truly

an amateur sport a little over a half century ago. College players for the

longest time did not know they had been drafted by a team in the National

Football League until they got a phone call or a form letter from the team

which had drafted them.

In the early spring of 1958, Jimmy Orr, who would become the

Rookie-of-the-year that fall with the Pittsburgh Steelers, stopped by the

downtown Varsity in Athens for a couple of chilidogs and a frosted orange;

a fellow student told him he had been drafted.

 

America was about to be swept up in the excitement of NFL drama.

Soon there were pre-game and post-game shows on television. We

 

couldn’t wait for the games to begin. We knew the popular jingles when

CBS went to breaks.

The Baltimore Colts announcer was Chuck Thompson and the Colt

games were brought to us by Blatz Beer.

I’m from Milwaukee and I ought to know,

It’s draft brewed Blatz beer wherever you go,

 

Smoother, fresher, less filling, that’s clear,

Blatz is Milwaukee’s finest beer.

CBS was in its heyday with the New York Giants winning or

contending for conference championships every year. Chris Schenkel

called the Giant games and Johnny Lujack was his original color man. (Do

you remember that Schenkel briefly attended the Statesboro school which

was, at the time, called Georgia Southern Teachers College.)

Now look at what we have with the NFL today with rich owners

getting richer with streaming bringing them more money than they can

count. Have you ever thought about what the NFL does for college football

in the way of financial support? The same amount that you contribute to

Vladimir Putin’s retirement fund.

 

Yet they are the beneficiaries of what amounts to what baseball calls

its farm system. The Big-League teams have to underwrite the cost of their

minor leagues while the colleges train the players at no expense to NFL

teams.

Over the years, I have enjoyed friendships with countless NFL,

coaches, scouts, administrators, and players. They enjoy great relations

with the colleges who have been eager to train talent for them. It is not,

however, an equitable arrangement. Some of the NFL’s riches should

“stream” into the collegiate coffers.

Kids are so eager to get to the “League” that they no longer

appreciate the value of their scholarship which will give them a degree if

they truly want it. In all too many cases, a large percentage of college

football players will need that degree at some point.

We all know about the many kids who do both—achieve a degree

and bank their NFL income into a nice nest egg. So many fail to take

advantage of the classroom experience which means that when their NFL

riches subside, they often don’t have any means of survival.

The college experience is such a wonderful sojourn. Walking to class

in the spring when the flowers are in full bloom, and in October when the

 

leaves turn. This environment is so exhilarating. I still enjoy walking from

the Arch to South campus and remembering the days when I was a student

who was earning a degree and was the beneficiary of a partial athletic

scholarship.

I had to supplement my scholarship with odd jobs, but it was so much

fun that I can’t imagine what my life would have been like if that had not

come about.

There was no NFL in my future. There was no NIL income, but I

obtained a degree and had a wonderful and meaningful experience. Life

on campus and in Athens was so alluring and addictive, I found a way to

make my home in the Classic City.

 

I don’t begrudge the current kids who need saddle bags to carry

around their money, but I lament that they miss out on the electric and

fulfilling campus experience.