As Ohio State Buckeye quarterback Cardale Jones once famously mused, why should sstudent-athleteshave to go to class if they came to the University to play football? After all, they “ain’t come to play SCHOOL” so classes are “POINTLESS.”
Well, it seems as though current UCLA stud Josh Rosen seems to share a similar sentiment, although he was able to articulate his point of view just slightly more eloquently than Jones did.
During a Q&A with Bleacher Report earlier this year, Rosen discussed injuries, the NCAA, and how “school and football don’t mix”, comparing it to having two full-time jobs.
via Bleacher Report:
“Look, football and school don’t go together. They just don’t. Trying to do both is like trying to do two full-time jobs. There are guys who have no business being in school, but they’re here because this is the path to the NFL. There’s no other way. Then there’s the other side that says raise the SAT eligibility requirements. OK, raise the SAT requirement at Alabama and see what kind of team they have. You lose athletes and then the product on the field suffers.”
–Bleacher Report: “Wait, some players shouldn’t be in school?”
It’s not that they shouldn’t be in school. Human beings don’t belong in school with our schedules. No one in their right mind should have a football player’s schedule, and go to school. It’s not that some players shouldn’t be in school; it’s just that universities should help them more—instead of just finding ways to keep them eligible.
Any time any player puts into school will take away from the time they could put into football. They don’t realize that they’re getting screwed until it’s too late. You have a bunch of people at the universities who are supposed to help you out, and they’re more interested in helping you stay eligible. At some point, universities have to do more to prepare players for university life and help them succeed beyond football. There’s so much money being made in this sport. It’s a crime to not do everything you can to help the people who are making it for those who are spending it.”
While Rosen’s certainly right, don’t expect the NCAA to change their rules anytime soon.
