Pressures of Winning - the Ncaa and College Football Recruiting

Pressures of Winning: The NCAA and  College Football Recruiting

Vicqual Hall

Western Illinois University

America’s Sport

        Sport to many is considered to be the religion of the American people states Robert K. Smith. He continues – there are as many adults who are fanatically devoted to sport on any given day than there are devoted to religious institution. The United Sates people as a whole are so engrossed with sport that even in the daily national prints, there is an entire section devoted to it, while so little apportioned to religion, which is a part of what this country was founded on.  Baseball has been forever ingrained in America’s culture – identifying as her favorite pastime for over a century and a half – but while looking ahead to the future, fifty years from now there may be a different perception of which sport is her favorite pastime. The sport of football is now commonly regarded as America’s sport – a sport that is constantly changing in terms of style of play and rules. Per a 2018 article by Max Jaegar in the New York Times, 37% of adults in the United States choose football over basketball, baseball, and soccer – despite race, age, and gender – according to Gallup’s poll.

        Football or American football as it is referred to internationally, was established in the United States in the 19th century combining soccer and rugby principles to some degree. The sport is played both professionally and at the amateur level. Fans by the millions crowd stadiums each year to observe their favorite teams play. For those who cannot attend the games in person have other alternatives – some being live streaming through an electronic device (i.e. phones or tablets), satellite radio, or television. There is some level of football being played throughout the Fall on every day of the week with the exception of Tuesday and Wednesday, and even on those days you can sometimes catch a middle school game.

Throughout the calendar year – from September to February – football dominates the sports world from pop warner to the NFL. The dominance of the sport contributes to billions of dollars’ worth of television ratings, weekend traffic, bar attendance, and complaints of women becoming “football widowed” by their husbands – whether they coach, play, or just fanatics of football. Made popular by teams representing colleges and universities, football forever embedded its mark on the history of the United States’ existence.

The History of College Football

Football’s inception in the United States began on November 6, 1869, according to historians per Sam Richmond in an article 2017 article on NCAA.com. Two college teams – Rutgers and Princeton – met and played the first college football game in New Brunswick, N.J. With around 100 people in attendance, Rutgers won the ball game 6 to Princeton’s 4.

As one can imagine, the playing style and rules at that time were much different than what we know of the sport today. According to Richmond, the teams were compiled of 25 players with the objective of kicking the ball into the other opponent’s goal – which sounds a more like soccer than American football. During the contest on in 1869 players were also able to strike the ball with their hands, feet, sides, and heads as well to score.

College football during that time seemed like a mashup of modern volleyball and soccer. The players were not allowed to carry of throw the ball. The structure of the game was similar to what we know of tennis in some regards. There were 10 games or matches and the best out of 10 won the game – this explains the 6-4 score. The contest played by both Rutgers and Princeton was the first college football game in history, but would not be last.

The very first “football” used during this contest was not of the shape that we identify with today – it was round much like a soccer ball. As its reputation demonstrates, the structure of sport changed and so did the playing styles, which led to many injuries and even deaths. The injuries and deaths caused as a result of playing football, led to the idea of getting rid of  it as a sport even though it had grew in popularity. Due to the casualties of the sport, Theodore Roosevelt – the president at the time – acknowledged that the game had to become safer for those involved. Roosevelt’s initiative as an supporter of the sport challenged leaders in football to revamp rules in order to make the game safer to play. According to Jim Morrison, during a commencement address and Harvard University, President Roosevelt stated, “Brutality in playing a game should awaken the heartiest and most plainly shown contempt for the player guilty of it.”

Prior to the revamping of the sport’s rules, there were nearly 20 deaths in 1905 across the nation as a result of football. Of the deaths, three were collegiate and the remainder were high school students. There were those who were opposed to the sport and pressed for it to be abolished. Ironically enough, President Roosevelt’s son was a freshman football player at Harvard during this time. A number of school’s met shortly after in New York to make changes in the rules of the sport.

Among the new rule changes entered; the forward pass, the ban of the flying wedge, and the creation of a neutral zone – which required offenses to move 10 yards in three downs and not 5. Prior to this, players could only strike the ball with their hands but not throw it to others. The idea behind the change was to open up the game, which would in turn theoretically minimize the amount of injuries and potential causalities that occurred while playing football. The legalization of the forward pass forever transformed the game of football, which is even more innovated in the current game today.

Due to the culture and tradition of the physical run-game aspect of the football, not everyone believed in the change as well as others. Forward passes added a level of difficulty to the game that players and coaches were not prepared for. For example, a pass could not be thrown over the line on five yards to either side of the center, and an incomplete pass caused a 15-yard penalty. To add insult to injury – a pass that was thrown and dropped without anyone touching it, resulted in a change of possession – meaning that the other team now gets the ball, regardless of what down it was. For those who know the game of football, can understand why some failed to embrace the implantation of the forward pass. Per College Football Hall of Famer Kent Stephens, the forward pass was considered “sissified” by coaches and it was not really football as they knew it to be.

The in-depth history of college football is something that could be talked about in an entire research paper. Touching on the humble beginnings of how the sport began was something that I wanted to do in order to paint a picture of how far the sport has come – not only from a rules and playing style standpoint, but also from a recruiting and business perspective as well. Starting with just 100 people in attendance the sport of football – college football specifically – has grown into a billion dollar industry that draws crowds of up to 80,000 people, and it does not show any signs of slowing down with regards to its growth.

The G.I Bill

The term GI Bill refers to an Department of Veterans Affairs education benefits earned by members of Active Duty and their families. The benefits of a GI Bill was intended to help members of service and veterans that were qualified cover expenses related to getting education and training. Within the GI Bill – depending on a member’s qualifications and status of duty – there were several programs that were governed according to military.com. One particular program within the GI Bill afforded eligible veterans and servicemembers the opportunity to attend either four year universities, community colleges, or advanced degree programs while providing financial aid support. The establishment of the GI Bill ignited the collegiate football recruiting process.

 Following World War II the frequency of veterans returning home put the United States government in a rather interesting dilemma – providing education and job opportunities for them. According to Haydock (1996), the political officials wanted to avoid history repeating itself – referencing the “Bonus Army” misfortune which occurred in 1932. Veterans from WW I marched on the nation’s capital as they were displeased with the value of monetary certificates that would not mature until 1945, which left these men in financial misfortune during the Great Depression. During this protest several veterans were killed (Ryan, 2002).

In their efforts to be proactive and mitigate yet another “Bonus Army” protest, leaders put an emphasis and priority on veteran assistant programs. In 1944, Kiester (1994) states that President Roosevelt discreetly signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, which eventually became known as the GI Bill. In short, the bill stated: anyone with ninety days of service, was entitled one year of higher education, while each additional month of being on active duty earned them one month of schooling, up to a maximum of 48 months. (Haydock, 1996). There were financial aid limits that helped cover cost of tuition, allowances, and housing, which increased for those with two dependents. The GI Bill and its benefits inflated the enrollment of students across the nation.