(ThyBlackMan.com) There has been a push to boycott the NFL all season, and I understand the argument. I agree that the NFL needs to make serious changes, and they need to stand by their players where the fight for social justice is concerned. The NFL owners should be ashamed of themselves, and they have allowed their players to feel like property which is never acceptable. The question that has been on my mind is how does this differ from college football. Many of the people boycotting the NFL are tuned in to college football every weekend, and one could ask is that a system that not treats players like property. Many universities deal with racial issues in their athletics programs, and the education that is “free” has strings attached in some cases. College football feeds the NFL of which we are boycotting. I find myself questioning why I support college football.
I love football with a passion. The lessons it instills are priceless. However, in a conversation about the NFL boycott it came up that a mother felt if she boycotted the NFL she was boycotting her son’s dreams. Her 15yr old wants to play college football for Alabama, and
go on to play in the NFL. The young man was very intelligent, but it seems like he was settling for less than his worth. Many successful NFL players, such as Richard Sherman, have brought light to how difficult it is to be a student-athlete.
Some programs don’t want you to have the major you desire if the difficulty is too high as it may take away from football. Every young man will not go to a school where his overall well-being is important. For many schools he is literally just a cash cow that will make that athlete department millions of dollars. We really need to understand the politics of college football, and begin to discuss whether it actually embodies some of the same issues we see in the NFL.
We shouldn’t support programs that put football over education…ones that would force students to change their majors to accommodate football. The NFL should not be the only future our children aspire to have. They must understand that their mind will sustain themiof their body cannot. The support we give college football sends a message that the NFL is an acceptable option. In that sense, yes, we are boycotting the future employer of our children. Granted there are college football players that play for the love of the game on that level, and are seeking to build a career in a different area. We must drive education in our community above all other activities. Our athletes should have a goal to graduate and know what career they are striving to obtain. The NFL can’t be seen as a meal ticket if we are going to boycott such.
We must begin to look at different options for our sons where football is concerned. Maybe strengthening the football programs at HBCU’s could help. The bottom line is our black boys are a dynamic part of the football roster. They make up a large portion of skilled positions on the field. The game is not marketable without them, and that is leverage we must use to our advantage. We hear people saying we should create our own league…well are we unified enough to pull that off is the question. I don’t pretend to know the answer to the NFL dilemma, but we must begin to seriously engage in productive dialogue realizing we must go deeper than the NFL. We must look at college football, and possibly high school ball as well.
Staff Writer; Larry Jackson
LJ is an old school poet, new school writer… Also the “Web Admin” for the following blogs; ThyBlackMan, ThySistas, and BlackFitness101…
