Armchair Quarterback: USC’s star takes a hit from NCAA
Talk about getting the shaft.
Disenfranchised USC wideout Mike Williams has been left out in the cold by the NCAA, which ruled this week he will not be eligible to play for the Trojans this season.
If you will recall, Williams opted to hire an agent and test the pro waters after a judge ruled in the favor of that unproven Ohio State agitator Maurice Clarett, allowing him to come out early for the NFL. At that point Williams, a proven receiver who would have gone in the top 10 in this year’s draft, declared himself eligible. However, an appeals court then came along and set aside the trial court’s ruling, leaving Williams in limbo. This week the NCAA declared Williams could not return to college ball even though he met the academic requirements.
Of course, this should be no surprise, seeing the NCAA is like the Mafia when it comes to college athletics. You cross the family and they rub you out. Williams insulted the NCAA family honor by considering a pro run, and now he’ll pay the price. Never mind that basketball players can basically do the same thing and then decide to return without a problem. Football must just be a different animal.
The reason for this discrepancy is that basketball players can come out any time they feel like it, and don’t have to wait until three years after their high school graduation as do football players. For this reason, the NCAA, the biggest money-making racket in the country, will bend over backwards to keep a blue chipper before the ESPN cameras for another year. However, on the other side of the coin, they know they have football players right where they want them.
Imagine that, a kid who would like to leave college for the bleak future of a guaranteed contract earning millions every year. Folks, if you’re going to earn millions, you don’t need a college education. Yet, people look down their noses at kids who want to come out early to play ball. Hey, if a kid left his sophomore year to make millions working for Microsoft, I doubt people would bat an eye.
I think part of this condescending action is the byproduct of the NCAA which wants to insure their cash flow from television contracts doesn’t dry up. College football, and even basketball, means huge money, putting billions into the combined NCAA school coffers each year. While the so-called “learned” elite are looking down their noses at these “ignorant” athletes, the schools sure are quick to take the money major college athletics earn.
And what do they do in return? They charge outrageous tuition to their students, including those who help generate the money by playing major athletics. It is the select few who actually get a free ride in college, and even those are greatly restricted as to what sources of outside income they can earn. Perish the thought of actually splitting some of the profit from their labors with them.
As for the whole Williams situation, he’ll sit out a year and earn more money next year in signing bonuses than most college administrators will earn in a lifetime. The only people cheated in the end will be the fans who pay billions into college athletics each year, deprived of those awesome one-handed catches in the end zone. I say if the kid wants to play, let him play. So what if he crossed the family? There are still billions to go around.