Honest Question About Football Players And Academics

[oldguystudent]

In a school like UNT, which is no LSU, Ohio State or USC, what percentage of the football players really pay attention to their academics? Let's be honest. Nobody on this team is likely to go to the NFL, so it would stand to reason for the unsullied mind that they're playing to get their education paid for.

If they are here for academics, how the hell do they keep up with it? I've been getting bombarded with quizzes left and right lately and if I were to miss any lectures, I wouldn't be able to answer them. I've also twice today had teachers give pop quizzes at the end of class because they got pissed off at people leaving the lecture early. Were I a football player, it would really suck to try to keep up with that!

Gah! Late Thursday nights with no beer seem to cause me to think of endless random topics! Apologies are given in advance of my many threads this evening.

[Got5onIt]

Athletes have to be disciplined and do alot of it on their own. There are tutors that specifically work with them and their busy schedules. Most instructors are pretty good about getting them assignments or daily lessons in advance. Not to mention coaches know a helluva lot about when and where players are supposed to be at specific times. Like I said in the beginning, most of it is on the athletes shoulders to buckle down and do the work. I played college football at a small school before finishing my degree at UNT, so I've been "lucky" enough to experience this first hand. I can tell you, it was damn difficult to do because you're body is so damn tired all the time.

Edited October 3, 2008 by Got5onIt

[JesseMartin]

Shaft doesn't seem to like these discussions, but oh well...to recap what I said in a thread a week or two ago (and somebody, I think Kram, shared the sentiment): Nearly all of the athletes I've had in classes I TAd for made good grades. Never caught any cheating. Athletics requires all athletes to attend study halls, sets them up with tutors when necessary, and even has a paid staff member (maybe more now) whose sole responsibility is to coordinate the academic well-being of the athletes.

I'm sure other schools have similar systems, but at North Texas, it's not just to look good-our athletes actually take their courses seriously. There are exceptions that I've heard of, but I never met any of them. Most have very little time during their respective seasons to do much other than practice, play, work out, eat, and study. The structure set out by the AD is very sucessful at UNT. Rosalyn Reades was one of our greatest women's bball players of all time, and she got a 4.0 and then ended up doing some biochem double master's or something like that.

[oldguystudent]

I hope you don't misunderstand me. My question was really one that leads to respect. I know I wouldn't be able to do it.

[JesseMartin]

I didn't at all...I respect them too, because they actually do what athletes at other schools are supposed to be doing.

[MeanGreengdub]

I didn't at all...I respect them too, because they actually do what athletes at other schools are supposed to be doing.

Minus winning.

[DirtySavage]

Minus winning.[

OUCH!

Edited October 3, 2008 by DirtySavage

[drex]

I am amused that you put LSU on the same (or higher plain) than North Texas. Bad assumption.

[Greendylan]

Athletes must maintain strictly regimented schedules to even stand a chance. In large part this organization is dictated by the AD, which also helps athletes determine a realistic major and course selection. I believe the AD also, in some cases, suggests particular instructors. Regardless, athletes at UNT are extremely reliable and hard-working students. Furthermore, the AD can almost become annoying due to the frequency with which they check student-athletes' progress—fortunately!

[MDH]

I once tutored the principles of accounting courses and I got some football players a few times.

All I have to say is....dear god

[oldguystudent]

I am amused that you put LSU on the same (or higher plain) than North Texas. Bad assumption.

I didn't put LSU on a higher academic plane. The schools listed were examples of schools that send a lot of players to the NFL draft, thus I would think those players would have different priorities.

[oldguystudent]

I once tutored the principles of accounting courses and I got some football players a few times.

All I have to say is....dear god

I just took my first principles of accounting test. The questions were quite literally along the lines of "Timmy just bought a used bicycle for $10 cash. Did his cash balance go up or down?"

The class average was 68, and the low was in single digits. Really?

*Not implying anything about football players here. Just boggled at the overall class results.

[woody82986]

I have had a couple classes with football players in it. They did pretty well. I figured they would just sit in the back of the room and goof off, but they paid attention and participated just like everyone else. It blew my preconceived notions right out the window.

[aprice]

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I don't see how its any different than people who work 30-40 hours a week and go to school full time, like myself. Except I don't have special tutors and study halls, and I still make good grades.

[meangreenacct]

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I don't see how its any different than people who work 30-40 hours a week and go to school full time, like myself. Except I don't have special tutors and study halls, and I still make good grades.

Somewhat agree. I worked anywhere from 30-45 hours a week through undergrad and grad school to make ends meet. You do what you gotta do to make it, I think alot of athletes have that mentality.

[oldguystudent]

Yeah, I worked that much in undergrad too, but I wasn't flying all over creation every week during the fall to endure multiple hits equivalent to a 40mph car crash.

[JesseMartin]

That's what I was going to mention...it's not like a job, because the sports schedule doesn't care about your class schedule or your "availability". You fly or bus out when needed, and get hit hard/exhausted/hungry a lot.

I had tough jobs in college, but aside from conference travel, nothing quite like that.

[DirtySavage]

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I don't see how its any different than people who work 30-40 hours a week and go to school full time, like myself. Except I don't have special tutors and study halls, and I still make good grades.

It is more like 50 or 60 hours a week in season and 20 to 30 out of season, but nice try " average student who didn't play D-1"