How National Signing Day is hurting college football
National Signing Day 2016 is almost here, and high school recruits are gearing up for their moment in the media spotlight.
National Signing Day, and the recruiting process as a whole, are hurting college football and there has to be some reforms made, or it will reach the point of no return.
Related Story: Why College Football Recruiting Is Overrated
Things change – in the game and in the way recruiting is approached – but not all change is for the good, nor should it necessarily be accepted. College football will continue to see discipline problems, character issues and ugly behavior from players as long as they are made to feel they fall outside the boundaries that others students must stay within, and it all starts with recruiting.
Imagine you’re 18 or even 17 years old. You’re a sought-after recruit by some of the most prestigious programs in the nation, and everyone is waiting for you to reveal on national television where you’ll spend your next two-to-four years.
No pressure, right?
It’s not enough that you sit down with people you trust in your life and examine all the reasons for making certain choices. You can’t just quietly weigh the pros and cons of all the possible directions you could go. That’s not what sells.
You have to have an entourage, whether it be family or friends, who act as your mouthpiece all too often. There has to be a gimmick for how you will announce to the world what your decision is, and it’s all for nothing if you don’t have your own set television time to reveal your choice.
You need these things…because, what’s going to college without some fanfare, right?
The recruiting process has turned into a circus, and National Signing Day is the ultimate big-top climax for the media ringmasters. Unfortunately, the only ones who become damaged by the entire process are the recruits – between programs oversigning, far too much early attention, and decisions made on what will create a splash rather than a solid choice – these young men are becoming expendable pawns.
Commitment: noun, com·mit·ment kə-ˈmit-mənt – the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action
The word “commitment” has completely lost its meaning when it comes to college football recruiting. Put it up there with “ethics” when it comes to the NCAA. It’s about time to remove the word commit (and any conjugation of said word) from the recruiting vernacular and to replace it with something like “favoring”.
Bottom line, if they’re committed, then why not sign the papers right away? Why wait for the big splash?
Who knows how many of these players know in their heart exactly where they want to go and what they want to do, but defer to playing the
chess
checkers game so they can become household names.
Players commit, many times probably just to see their names in the national media, only to flip and flip again – sometimes as late as when the cameras are rolling on National Signing Day. The more times they change their mind, the more their names become cemented in the minds of fans and the media.
The word “decommit” has entered the regular vocabulary of recruiting. It had to be added to dictionaries.
These young men are shoved into the limelight before they’ve even been through orientation. They are treated like royalty before the first time they manage to forget their student ID in the cafeteria. Is it any wonder they step on to campus feeling bulletproof?
This isn’t to say that their talents and accomplishments in high school shouldn’t be celebrated, but a modicum of moderation couldn’t hurt.
The game is being hurt because we have children walking into a stadiums across the country who are expected to rise up and be the savior of a program. The expectations are simply too high, not to mention the mental and physical toll all of this takes on brains and bodies which are still developing.
The onset of social media has allowed a certain unethical and irresponsible segment of the fan population to contact these kids directly, trying to sway their decisions, and berating (even threatening) them if the choice doesn’t go their way.
It’s getting ugly, and some sort of compromise has to be found soon.
It’s time to give these young men their privacy back, and to let them come to a decision without a stage or spotlights. It’s time to pull back a little and to realize that our fishbowl peering is really having a detrimental affect to some high school kids.
Choosing a school and having a legendary college career without all the flag-waving and tabletop haberdasheries didn’t seem to be a problem for guys like Barry Sanders, Bo Jackson, Joe Montana or Herschel Walker. There’s no reason a return to a less personally invasive method of recruiting couldn’t return.
Oh wait, there is a reason…money.
You think it’s bad college players don’t get paid? Just think about how much money is generated through the recruiting process of players who aren’t even officially under the NCAA’s watch yet…not to mention the Vegas-like spectacle of National Signing Day (remind me to see if there’s a bill on the senate floor to make this a national holiday yet).
The networks who broadcast these sideshows and feed the beast of narcissism will have to be dragged out kicking and screaming. There are advertising dollars at stake here, never mind the well-being of some teenagers.
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Just like everything else the NCAA is allowing to drag the sport of college football through the mud, money comes front and center as the root of the problem, and the game so many love is being damaged.
But hey, how else would Snoop Dogg get his picture posted everywhere?