College football and the NCAA are missing something – class. They need more athletes that can act like they have been there before and not celebrate after scoring a touchdown. They need schools that are more worried about improving the lives of athletes than making money. They need men and women that can be the face of the NCAA.
As athletes such as Johnny Manziel and the football program at Oklahoma State start to enter the spotlight, the NCAA is starting to look like a greedy organization that is only looking for money.
Let me start by saying that Johnny Manziel is an amazing athlete. I have no doubt that he is one of the top quarterbacks this year and that he does a superb job of throwing and running the ball. However, what Mr. Manziel lacks is leadership and class. Instead of being involved in possible alcohol violations and a scandal involving selling his autograph, Manziel needs to focus on his attitude more than his athletic talent.
After a horrendous summer for Johnny Manziel, what he needed to do was stay under the radar. However, he did the opposite of this in his first game.
During the second half of play against Rice, Manziel acted like a tool and a jerk on national television. He signed fake autographs towards defensive players, made money suggestions with his hands after touchdowns, pointed towards the scoreboard taunting the defense and ignored his coach all before being pulled from the game.
Manziel made himself look like a college fool who had never experienced success before and needs to be taught humility. Although Manziel is helping to make college football look like a joke, he is not the sole perpetrator. Entire organizations are also to blame.
Oklahoma State, one of the success stories of college football, was recently accused of breaking multiple NCAA rules in a five-part series posted on Sports Illustrated. These articles accused Oklahoma State of paying players for performance, disregarding drugs on the team, having players use drugs before games and college girls having sex with recruits to convince them to go to Oklahoma State.
The NCAA needs to regain control of college football by beginning to start enforcing their rules. For example, the NCAA suspended Manziel for half a game and are yet to comment on Oklahoma State.
If NCAA does not begin to enforce their rules, it could begin to spin out of control. More selfish players will land in the national spotlight and more programs will slowly tarnish the public image of college football. The NCAA is supposed to be a program that teaches college students life lessons, promotes competition and school.
If the NCAA wants to go back to their roots and redefine college football before it self destructs, they first need to find class.
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