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Influence of money on NFL gives good reason to view college games |
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Tuesday, 12 September 2006 |
| | Erik Rhyne |
BOONE ‚Äî We are in the beginning of some of the most exciting months in sports; it‘s football season.
Your weekend is filled with college football on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday.
Isn‘t it great?
Watching the games is, of course. What happens off the field can turn the sport sour.
Both levels have their issues. College has issues with players cheating, breaking the law and receiving gifts.
The NFL is filled with issues of steroids, hold-outs, players demanding trades and money issues.
The list can go on and on for both. Those are just a few of the problems in football.
One thing does stick out, however – money.
Money is the
driving force for 100 percent of professional football. It‘s less so in
college because collegiate athletes do not get paid.
If they did, there would be the same problems in college as there are in the NFL.
That‘s what
makes college so great, though. Players do not worry about the name on
the back of their jersey. They focus more on the name on the front.
One day that idea will change when $30 million is placed in their hands. But while they still are in school, it is not a focus.
College athletes
are showered in praise. They basically run their campuses. They get
more benefits and help than any other student at their school.
Yes, that may
sound a lot like getting contracts, but it is not. I mean, how many of
them try to transfer to another school because they get something more
there?
None.
Once they hear their name on draft day, it all changes.
These guys expect to get paid for their services and they do. The problem is just that it is getting out of hand.
There has not been one year where every first-round pick has gone into training camp signed on the first day in a long time.
This is what is
hurting the NFL. While you cannot notice it, money disputes are getting
old quick. It is like a nagging headache that will never go away. Just
when you think it has stopped, here it comes again, same time every
time.
They hurt the image of the team and the player in the eyes of the city and of fans.
If you turn away your fans, the money stops coming in and you lose popularity.
Not only do
holdouts cause frustration in fans, but also players are not focused on
the team. They look out more for themselves.
Just recently I
interviewed Justin Woazeah, who plays cornerback for Appalachian State.
He mentioned two things that show what a collegiate football player
would say. First he said that he considers the team his family.
Most of them
have played for over two years so they know how each other act. Not
only do they know each other on the field but off. I mean these guys
are around each other most of the time. They do not have expensive cars
or anything interrupting them.
Woazeah even said what seems to be lacking in some places across the NFL.
"I want some
personal records, call me selfish or not," he said. "Our unit is strong
and our chemistry is there. Team success will come because of the
chemistry. Everyone has his own personal goals. With our individual
goals accomplished, bigger team goals will be set."
Yes, he has his
own goals that he wants, but he believes that with everyone having
their own goals, success will follow with team goals.
In the NFL players tend to look out for themselves and always go where they can find the biggest buck.
If college
players have the belief system like Woazeah does, then something
happens to them when they sign their first professional contract.
Money changes people. That‘s what happens off the field.
On the field is where I pay the most attention.
Every weekend for the next couple of weeks, my Saturdays and Sundays will be filled with watching football.
I‘ll enjoy the Saturdays just a little bit more.
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Erik Rhyne, who
writes a weekly column for the Daily Planet, is the sports editor of
The Appalachian, the twice-weekly student newspaper at Appalachian
State University.
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