standard offers anl within, the lim
itators of toosI "purity codes." One
University, however, viso guaran
teed Foul part-time wjik with a
"downtown rmoster" that would
pay most of his living expenses
simply fur "mudolinjt" sportswear.
At first, Paul and I considered
only the schools that offered daz
zling bids for his services. They
spotted our interest and gave us
the "hard sell" on the monetary
advantages of their institutions.
IT was Paul's mother who start
ed us back to reality and
focused our attention on the
real problem. We had visited a
week-end coaches' clinic at some
body else's expense, of course
and met a well-known alumnus
who confided that his firm guar
anteed jobs for the school's stars
during and after college.
"Didn't he even ask what Paul
wanted to do, or what he would
study?" my wife asked. "Whom
did you discuss his education with?"
The answer was nobody.
Strange for a parent, isn't it? And
equally strange for educators.
Paul's future was nobody's busi
ness but that of the gridiron en
trepreneurs. He had become foot
ball "material" first, a student last.
Maybe, I decided, I'd better take
a closer look at this scholarship
business. We revisited the colleges
that seemed the most openhanded.
"The scholarship is attractive,"
we'd say, "but what happens to
Paul's education if he doesn't meas
ure up to high-school promise?"
We soon learned that most golden
scholarships boil down to simple
small-print contracts in which you
either play top football or else!
Suddenly I was the indignant
parent! Why worry about a game?
It's the boys who play the game
that count.
I preached to Paul that the true
star recognized football as a small
part of college and an even smaller
part of life. The star is the man
who looks on the game as a prep
aration for life, not life's goal.
I brought my righteousness to a
man I had learned to respect as an
athlete and as a teacher of young
people Paul's high-school football
coach. He quickly cooled me off.
"Did you come here to tell me
some schools are hypocritical or
dishonest in their athletic pro
grams?" he snapped. "Then I'll tell
you some retail businessmen, like
yourself, are crooks. Will you take
the blame for all of them?"
I flushed. "You're defending
them? Why, they think of boys
simply as commodities in a $100
million industry. They make them
hired freaks at a public circus
where winning is everything, and
then talk 'building character'!"
" 'They'?" the coach asked. "Who
are 'they'? You mean the three or
four colleges you bartered with,
don't you':, 'NM all the 14 who cou
tactcd you. lat rnl.t have you
to condemn them all? You were
willing to play a dirty gome your
self until you found Paul might Uise
something and not 'character'
either! These colleges couldn't break
the rules if it weren't for parents
letting them. If underhanded bids
were so shocking, you could have
walked out. Honest colleges were
waiting for Paul."
And so I was told olT. There
wasn't a reply I could make, either.
The fault was obvious, of course,
but when you suddenly find your
self on the receiving end of a big
"free-load," your perspective gets
distorted and no alibi intended.
as the coach pointed out, it was
' time wc righteous critics
learned about a side of foot
ball that doesn't make headlines.
College officials have their football
problems, most of their own crea
tion, but they are genuinely trying
to solve them. Whether they like it
or not, educators must now draw
big crowds to support extravagant
athletic programs and costly stadi
ums; they must help produce win
ning teams and All-Americans.
Many accomplish this by exploit
ing youths put under their guid
ance. Some solve the problem sim
ply by dropping the Frankenstein
like sport. But others strive to
bring total respectability to college
football and still maintain it as a
spectacular part of Americana.
They aren't having an easy job,
as any newspaper reader can tell
you. The cheats may be few, but
they're like rotten apples in a bar
rel. Codes can't stop them. But
parents and young men could.
It takes two to break any code,
and the ultimate responsibility for
a young man's acceptance or rejec
tion of fair play lies with himself
and his parents. Without their tacit
approval, the football fraud of our
land couldn't operate.
That oversimplification isn't the
final answer, of course. But "polic
ing" by parents would go a long
way toward helping colleges restore
the real value of football, a student
activity designed to train and de
velop youth on a higher plane than
"what's-in-it-for-me?"
Not that Paul didn't get a football
scholarship. But he selected it for
what it offered in education and
self-respect. Since he had a specific
career in mind, he entered a school
with a fine reputation in his chosen
field, if not in football prowess.
The college's grant-in-aid pro
gram seems relatively unattractive
but, as a counselor explained, the
true worth of a scholarship is what
a youth and his teachers make it.
For his tuition, Paul must be a
campus leader in all respects
scholarship, character, and athlet
ics. Saturday heroics don't exempt
him from the responsibility of a
sluucPt and citizen. On the other
hanrt, he will n w udecd n fail
ure in college if his yardajjc slips
My wife and I believe this is
training, this is education.
tiier factors decided us on the
college. It does not rely on
football attendance to support
its athletic program. Tuition, fees,
and endowments take care of an
adequate but not extravagant pro
gram. That means the athletic de
partment isn't under pressure to
fill a stadium to pay for everything
from intramural canoeing to coast-to-coast
football junketing.
Second, most of the coaches are
considered members of the faculty
and have tenure. As long as they
meet responsibilities as educators,
they cannot be fired. Free of the
demands of winning every Satur
day, they can look on players as
persons, not performers. Equally
important, the faculty at this col
lege has the strongest voice in ath
letics, not a clique of professional
sports promoters.
Third, Paul's 12 hours of training
weekly allows enough free time for
normal student activities. Most big
time schools devote about 20 hours
a week to practice; how can a
young man learn anything, social
ly or scholastically, that way?
These factors influenced us.
Other families with young athletes
will face different circumstances
and, consequently, find different
reasons for their decisions. But I
believe one tip applies in all eases:
Don't judge a football grant-in-aid
on its face value. Among other
things, look at the representative
offering it and ask, "Do I want a
person like this influencing my
boy's judgment and sense of val
ues? Will he help him be a better
man, win or lose?"
Since I've had my own perspec
tive straightened out, I've found
that most college leaders deserve
the parents' confidence. But, as in
K
fell
any group, there are the self-seekers,
and nobody conference com
missioners, college presidents, or
crusading sportswr iters can as
sume the parents' responsibility for
guiding a boy.
Sure, it's tough to pass up the
gravy train, but I can tell you it's
worth it in the long run. When I
visit Paul on Saturdays, I'll watch
him play football, not work at it.
And if he scores a touchdown, I'll
cheer because I'm proud, not be
cause he's earned a bigger pay-off!
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