It’s been said that February’s signing day - when high school seniors can oft cially accept football scholarships from major colleges - has become a sports holiday akin to Super Bowl Sunday or the first round of March Madness.
On that day each year, grown men (and not a few women) stay home from work, tune in to ESPN and down the information to seewhere a bunch of 17- or 18-year-old boys will pledge to play football.
It’s become a tradition, even a ritual for avid fans.
This fascination reaches far beyond a single day, though.
Recruiting is a year-round obsession, with fans constantly scouring the Web for information, pounding questions at “experts” and consuming millions of bits of data about high school, and in some cases, junior high football players. And as with fandom of all stripes, these people often become emotionally invested in the pursuit. They come to care too dearly about the decisions being taken by kids barely old enough to shave.
Never mind that a high percentage of these players will never be heard from again. Getting a five-star recruit at your favorite college is cause for wild celebration. Having a highly rated recruiting class encourages gloating and trash talk. Conversely, missing out on a prize player, especially one from your alma mater’s backyard, means heartbreak and recrimination.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the young men who become the object of all this attention begin to compete for it. After all, their competitive natures are part of what makes them desirable prospects. When they see how fans obsess about them, they begin to look for ways hold that attention.
That inevitably leads some to do immature or foolish things. Some will tease fans with hints and false promises. Others simply say what listeners want to hear. Some use the opportunity to make a splash that will get tweeted, or “instagrammed” or even scrolled on ESPN’s ubiquitous “Bottom Line.”
This week we read of one young man who, the day before signing, told reporters covering one school he was headed their way, only to step to the podium and sign a letter of intent for a diff erent team. In another case, a player long-pledged to his hometown college sat before his high school classmates and - surprise! - donned the cap of the local university’s hated arch-rival. He was booed and jeered, but that seemed to be exactly what he wanted.
These players, and many others who pulled similar stunts, were roundly criticized for their behavior, which seemed to be designed only to draw attention to themselves and make sure the world was watching. Surely, they earned some of that criticism.
People, even teenagers, are responsible for their own actions.
But overzealous fans deserve some of the heat, too. After years of placing these lads on pedestals, elevating them to hero status, following their every move and reacting to their every word, why is anyone surprised when some act like, well, children?
The culture created around these recruits encourages, and in some cases demands, that they separate themselves from the pack. It’s entirely unfair for adults to heap all the blame on teenagers who are simply fulfilling what they perceive to be the world’s expectation.
So, the next time a recruit “strings along” your favorite team, or “plays” your fan base, or simply changes his 18-year-old mind at the last minute, don’t place all the blame on him for your disappointment. He’s just playing the game we taught him.
WHAT’S THE POINT?
Fans who avidly follow college
football recruiting have no
one to blame but themselves
when recruits pull last-minute
antics.
Opinion, Pages 5 on 02/08/2014