Rain Man
02-04-2009, 04:18 PM
You're a high school football player, and you're really good. You once scored six touchdowns in one game. The people around you say that they think you could make the pros, and you think so, too. Your measurables are only about average for a typical promising recruit, but you have football smarts and great vision and great intangibles.
The challenge is that you go to Antlerville High School in rural West Dakota, and no college scout wants to come to Antlerville High during the bitter cold of football season. Plus, your conference doesn't include any prominent teams, so you didn't get a whole lot of press, even though you've broken most state records for your IIA Division.
You get four offers:
1. You get a full ride offer from local Division I-AA School Antlerville State. They've offered you everything they can offer you: full tuition, books, fees, a cherry job monitoring the automatic sprinklers, and in the summer prominent alumni Venus DeSiren needs a pool boy at her hacienda in Oahu. You are guaranteed a starting position, as if there was any doubt, and frankly, the odds are that you would be the school's prized recruit. No one has ever been drafted from Antlerville State, but their star running back in 2003 was invited to the Jets camp as a free agent, and NFL scouts have occasionally visited to look at star players. Attendance at games is in the 20,000 range.
2. You get a full ride offer from Division I School West Dakota A&M, which is in a mediocre conference but hey, it's Division I. You would still pay for your books and fees, but they've got a nice job for you keeping stats for the women's track and field team. You would compete for the starting job, and their starter at your position is a junior who you're pretty sure you could beat. West Dakota A&M has had a few players drafted as low and mid-round picks over the years, and one of their alums had a 9-year career in the NFL with a couple of pro bowl appearances. Attendance at games is in the 40,000 range.
3. You get a partial scholarship offer from Division I School Alaburnanova. This school is in a major conference, though they're perennially weak. You would compete for the starting job, and their starter at your position is a senior regarded as a likely early second-day NFL pick. You think you're better than him, though. They'll likely sign a couple of other strong recruits at your position, though in your heart you think you're the best. Alaburnanova typically produces a couple of draft picks a year, and occasionally they're first-rounders. There are several successful pros who hail from the school, though most are journeymen. Attendance at games is in the 60,000 range.
4. You get offered a chance to walk on at national powerhouse UST (University of Southern Texas). This school is THE football factory, and produces a couple of first-round picks every year. Roughly 30 percent of their starters get drafted, and most of the rest get free-agent tryouts. Their starter at your position is an All-American senior, and they've got a junior, sophomore, and freshman in line who were all highly-rated recruits, and tend to bring in other strong recruits each year. In your heart, you think you would be the best of them all, and the coach says you'd have every chance to compete. Attendance at games is in the 80,000 range, usually with national TV coverage.
All four schools have similar systems in place, and all have coaches who are well-respected and known as guys who are willing to let the best players rise to the starting lineup. All of the schools are roughly equal academically and socially, as if you cared about academics anyway given what Randy Moss accomplished with that little pea-brain of his.
What school do you choose to attend?
The challenge is that you go to Antlerville High School in rural West Dakota, and no college scout wants to come to Antlerville High during the bitter cold of football season. Plus, your conference doesn't include any prominent teams, so you didn't get a whole lot of press, even though you've broken most state records for your IIA Division.
You get four offers:
1. You get a full ride offer from local Division I-AA School Antlerville State. They've offered you everything they can offer you: full tuition, books, fees, a cherry job monitoring the automatic sprinklers, and in the summer prominent alumni Venus DeSiren needs a pool boy at her hacienda in Oahu. You are guaranteed a starting position, as if there was any doubt, and frankly, the odds are that you would be the school's prized recruit. No one has ever been drafted from Antlerville State, but their star running back in 2003 was invited to the Jets camp as a free agent, and NFL scouts have occasionally visited to look at star players. Attendance at games is in the 20,000 range.
2. You get a full ride offer from Division I School West Dakota A&M, which is in a mediocre conference but hey, it's Division I. You would still pay for your books and fees, but they've got a nice job for you keeping stats for the women's track and field team. You would compete for the starting job, and their starter at your position is a junior who you're pretty sure you could beat. West Dakota A&M has had a few players drafted as low and mid-round picks over the years, and one of their alums had a 9-year career in the NFL with a couple of pro bowl appearances. Attendance at games is in the 40,000 range.
3. You get a partial scholarship offer from Division I School Alaburnanova. This school is in a major conference, though they're perennially weak. You would compete for the starting job, and their starter at your position is a senior regarded as a likely early second-day NFL pick. You think you're better than him, though. They'll likely sign a couple of other strong recruits at your position, though in your heart you think you're the best. Alaburnanova typically produces a couple of draft picks a year, and occasionally they're first-rounders. There are several successful pros who hail from the school, though most are journeymen. Attendance at games is in the 60,000 range.
4. You get offered a chance to walk on at national powerhouse UST (University of Southern Texas). This school is THE football factory, and produces a couple of first-round picks every year. Roughly 30 percent of their starters get drafted, and most of the rest get free-agent tryouts. Their starter at your position is an All-American senior, and they've got a junior, sophomore, and freshman in line who were all highly-rated recruits, and tend to bring in other strong recruits each year. In your heart, you think you would be the best of them all, and the coach says you'd have every chance to compete. Attendance at games is in the 80,000 range, usually with national TV coverage.
All four schools have similar systems in place, and all have coaches who are well-respected and known as guys who are willing to let the best players rise to the starting lineup. All of the schools are roughly equal academically and socially, as if you cared about academics anyway given what Randy Moss accomplished with that little pea-brain of his.
What school do you choose to attend?