What a Division I Football Student-Athlete May be Processing These Days.
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Reflections of a Division I Football Student-Athlete
This Week's A-V Captures a Fictional Depiction of What a Division I Football Student-Athlete May be Processing These Days.
My Fall 2020 semester classes started last week. Most of my classes are online with one in-person class on the schedule. As I am finishing 400- and 500-level courses, many of my classes have fewer than 20 students, making them conducive to our professors using new technologies to facilitate virtual learning. Our university leadership has communicated to the entire campus in recent weeks the situation regarding mandatory COVID-19 testing and health and safety protocols. There’s definitely more signage around campus with constant reminders about distancing and mask-wearing. We even have attendance flexibility with our in-person courses to allow students to sort out with their professors alternative content delivery in the event we are hesitant to attend class in-person. There’s a lot in motion these days.
I am the captain of our football team and a starting wide-receiver. I am pursuing a business degree to, in part, help me learn the ropes of contracts, agencies and pro sports economics. I was humbled to be named offensive player of the year in our conference last season. I was named to multiple preseason All-American lists as prelude to this fall season. Friends and media say I am projected as high as a fourth round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. My football coaches said if I get more of my talent on “tape” by virtue of playing more games this fall on national tv for the benefit of NFL scouts’ scrutiny, my draft stock could elevate like it did last year for Joe Burrow.
Like many of my teammates and Division I football players across the country, I don’t come from the wealthiest background. I come from very modest means, there are financial pressures at home that I saw and lived through as a kid. It’s nice I have a full athletics scholarship that covers all of my college bills and leaves some left over for pocket money to put gas in my beat up sedan or buy a video game. I do Venmo some scholarship money home to my family to help with their utility and credit card bills. My family members are counting on me to “make it” in pro sports to help improve all of our lives. I know I’m not the only one who feels family pressure; I even saw parents from another conference protesting their league’s decision not to play football. What if a college football player doesn’t want to play, but their parents are out there publicly campaigning that they should? That’s crazy.
I will be honest, this COVID-19 virus has me spooked. There are some people with serious health conditions that can get this and face serious consequences. I also know some of my immediate family members back home have health conditions. The last thing I want to do is catch the virus and bring it home.
Our preseason practice this August has not been without stops and starts. A couple of teammates tested positive for COVID-19 and needed to quarantine for about two weeks in separate residence hall rooms. My teammates and I really want to play this fall. My sense is there are some in our locker room thinking about “opting out” for the fall. Opting out is a new process the NCAA outlined whereby Division I schools would allow student-athletes with concerns regarding health and safety unknowns tied to COVID-19 to take the year off from athletics participation, yet stay enrolled and keep our scholarships. Essentially, a “pause button” option for a student-athlete’s college athletics career to see how the year plays out, hoping our science and medical communities can identify and bring to market a vaccine for this invisible foe.
Interestingly, I think one or two of my teammates want to opt out, but I think they feel guilty for potentially stepping away from what could be a banner year. We’re supposed to be ranked nationally and vie for a conference championship. I support my teammates, but to achieve our competitive goals, we can’t have an incomplete roster. Then again, will that even be possible? I keep seeing tweets and news flashes confirming another conference has canceled or postponed its fall sports. Our conference is still on-record wanting to play this fall, but we might only be playing each other as options for non-conference opponents are diminishing by the day. My senior year wasn’t supposed to play out like this. And I need more looks for the NFL scouts. If some of our offensive line opts out or, God forbid, our starting quarterback, that complicates my ability to showcase my talents as an offensive threat.
The NCAA’s decisions this past Friday decompress some of the lingering uncertainty for student-athletes like me, but not all of it. It's a relief that fall sport student-athletes will not be charged a season of competition in 2020-21 regardless of the number of games we may compete in. The NCAA also granted automatic one year extensions to our five-year eligibility clock. One of the other details from Friday’s NCAA announcement is Division I's promise to explore fall sports playing their seasons and an NCAA championship in this spring. I’d take that option in a heartbeat, but no one can guarantee this will come to fruition. Plus, the reality is college football has its own pathway with the bowl and playoff system. I even saw news that the bowl game operators would be open to moving bowl games to the spring. Yet, there are no guarantees these days. The pandemic could spread and be worse this spring.
It may sound like a no-brainer to come back next year to use my “saved” senior season in Fall 2021, but there are other considerations and realities.
As a Division I football student-athlete at a higher profile school, there is recognition that our athletics department and university rely on our football program to generate revenue. That is not lost on me. The economics of college sports, especially college football, is interesting. I have former high school teammates who now play at smaller, Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) schools who usually open their football seasons with daunting high profile opponents like Georgia or Michigan or USC so their school can collect six, sometimes seven-figure paydays. College football, in all its glory, is pretty cool: tailgating, the pep band playing, and enormous crowds upwards of 90,000 to 100,000 people in some places. Families coming in to see their sons play. When you step back, there’s a lot happening here economically as well. Hotels get filled, airlines see fans making connections, bars and restaurants are packed near campus, and so on. Our coaches also see big paydays when it comes to their salaries. If my pro career aspirations don’t pan out, I plan to get into coaching, possibly at high school level. But maybe I could be a big-time college coach one day.
To be fair, my teammates and I have been training a long time and want to play this fall just like our coaches and administrators hope we do. Our collective motives may vary, but the endgame is to play if it’s safe. We’re not being forced to play and this opt-out declaration option gives me an outlet to step back. My teammates and I have discussed this in our locker room and during training this summer. We want to play provided our university and conference leadership establish and implement health and safety protocols that position us to compete safely.
Our university and our team and coaches all aspire to have college football this fall. The reality is, if we dont play games this fall, the likelihood of me playing football games for my school in the spring is remote. I havent said that publicly, but it's true. The spring is when I need to be training full-time, prepping for the NFL combine, and be done with school. The stress of the last few months continues to weigh on me. College life peppered with uncertainties and foggy outlooks isn't helping. It may be time for me to inquire about counseling services offered through our Athletics Department and University. I keep reading about how our mental health is being compromised due to isolation and stresses amplified during the pandmeic.
When it comes to playing the sport I love for my school one last time, I just need to gather my thoughts and make the best decision for me and my family -- whatever that ends up being.
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