GRETZ: Solving NFL Problems: Part 2

[C-Mac]

GRETZ: Solving NFL Problems: Part 2
May 12, 2005, 6:10:53 AM by Bob Gretz

Part 1


The lifeblood of the National Football League is college football. Without it, the NFL would have to go out and create a minor league system to feed its teams. Football would be forced to do what baseball has done for 100 years: pay for the development of their players.



The NFL gets the first step of their player development without cost from the college ranks. In 99 percent of the cases, four years of college football provide a good picture on the ability and potential of a player.

Given this free feeder system, it’s not surprising that the NFL walks on egg shells when it comes to dealing with the NCAA and the college football coaches. And, it’s not really so much the NCAA. In truth, that great collegiate monolith that once called Kansas City home really has very little to do with big-time college football. The power on that level is held by the conferences, television networks and bowl games, not the NCAA.

Proof of this is simple: why does the NCAA have college football championship playoffs at the Division 1-AA, Division II and Division III levels, but has none in Division 1? It’s because the conferences, bowl games and television control the game, not the bureaucrats in Indianapolis.

There’s one other power on the college gridiron: the coaches. The NFL skews its rules and policies in an effort to appease the guys on campus.

Take the rules involving the participation of rookies in off-season programs. The league has established the following guideline: with the exception of a three-day rookie mini-camp that must be held within 15 days of the draft, the first day that rookies may show up at the team’s facility for workouts or practices is May 16th.

It doesn’t stop there. If a player’s school has final exams after May 16th, he’s not allowed to participate until the exam week is over. It doesn’t matter whether he’s taking any of those exams or not.

What’s the big deal you say? Plenty. What other business would select a young person to begin his employment and then establish restrictions on his first months on the job that keep him from learning his profession? A guy can be an apprentice electrician or carpenter or plumber for years, but in the NFL, the apprentice process last about four months for most rookies: from late April to late August.

Take Chiefs draft choice Will Svitek, who earned a degree last year from Stanford. He was drafted on April 24th, allowed to attend a three-day mini-camp a week later and now has been sitting at home waiting for next week, when he can officially come back and work with the team.

So what’s two weeks? It’s a lot when you are moving from defense to offense like Svitek. It’s a lot when you are trying to join the best of the best. It’s a lot when every workout, every skull session with an assistant coach, every chance to absorb the NFL matters.

Without special NFL dispensation, Svitek would have had to wait until June 8th to return to Kansas City, because that’s the last day of finals at Stanford. The league agreed to allow him to report earlier because he provided transcripts that showed he had indeed earned enough credits for a degree.

Last year, Samie Parker and Junior Siavii had to wait until the second week of June before they could return to Kansas City and take part in workouts. After watching both players struggle with the transition to the pro game, it’s not hard to see that another month of working with the coaching staff and more supervised strength and conditioning could have helped these guys.

Why does the NFL create this bureaucratic nightmare? They are trying to placate the college coaches. More often than not, a player with pro aspirations will use the spring semester to prepare for the NFL Draft. More often than not, these players are short of the credits necessary for graduation. More often than not, these players do not return to school and pick up the credits necessary for a degree.

And in today’s world of college athletics, more often than not the guy who takes the blame for low graduation rates is the coach. So these rules on restricting participation are set up to convince players to finish out the semester, since they can’t move to their new city anyway.

But remember this: when was the last time you heard of a big-time college football coach who was fired because of low graduation rates? They get fired for low victory rates. Good old State U. or even a private school, like say a Notre Dame, talks a good game about education, but they want bowl games, conferences championships and victories first. That generates money and attention and that’s what being the “front porch” of American colleges and universities is all about.

The NFL believes they should help with this graduation-rate charade, or the coaches will cut them off from access to players in the scouting process. That may happen at some schools. But it won’t last long. Talented high school players all believe they have a shot at the pro game. It’s used in recruiting now; just check out any major college football media guide and there’s always a section on former players who were drafted and went on to the pro game. How long do you think it would take for one coach to mention that another school the recruit is considering does not allow NFL scouts access, while his program does? The college coaches need the NFL dream to attract the best high school talent.

Once those players pass into the pro game, whether through the draft or being signed as a rookie free agent, the NFL should do everything in its power to make them successful. The league should not restrict the ability of these young men to get instruction and training.

[HemiEd]

I wish the NBA and College Basketball had this arrangement.

[jarjar]

Meh. In my opinion this isn't a big enough problem to be worrying about compared to the shitstorm it's going to stir if we try to fix it. The NFL has busted ass to get away from the "dumb jocks playing a violent sport" image, and rolling back that rule would be a big step back in this regard.