In a recent radio interview the announcer suggested that I am “old school.” I think it was related to a comment I made about how everyone sits in their cars, waiting for their hamburgers or coffee — too much sitting. I suspect everyone my age has a little old school in them and most are proud of it. For one, we have perspective, having lived through changes. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate many of the changes that technology has provided. The internet gives us information so quickly. I love the remote, having not forgotten standing next to the rabbit ears adjusting the TV antennae until my dad said “Stop.” You had to get out of your chair to change the channel, even though we only had three. As children we had mobility, riding our bikes everywhere to join sandlot football and baseball games. No parents — we made the rules.
I’ve always loved the game of football — still do. Professional footballers played for money but college players didn’t. As an athletic trainer at a big time football school, I lived in the athletic dorm, ate at the athlete’s table, and was in the training room or on the field every day. I knew the toll of playing football. At LSU the head coach made less than $20,000 a year in 1964. He had a little TV show that gave him some extra money. He wasn’t rich and certainly not the highest paid employee by the state of Louisiana. Assistant coaches made modest incomes and one even lived in the dorm to save money. My roommate was the freshmen basketball coach.
Athletes reported to the campus toward the end of August. Most had real jobs in the summer, resulting in money in their pockets when school started. All athletes received guaranteed room, board, and tuition for four years. They received a laundry stipend, books, and four tickets to home games which they could sell. If there was a problem at home, the school could help them with transportation. We played our first game about a week after school started and our last game was on Thanksgiving weekend —10 games. If we didn’t go to a New Year’s day bowl, the season was over. Athletes did some formal training in winter concluding with spring football, but football was over until fall. Football was a seasonal sport, not a full-time job.
This was old-school football. Players were proud of their uniform, their team. Football practices were tough but the season ended. Success in school was difficult as the physical and mental fatigue of football was intense. Some athletes were not interested in school but most graduated to good jobs and professional careers. I’ve always resented the comments about dumb players as the people who say this have never lived in a player’s shoes.
College football has changed drastically. We’re smarter at training athletes, sports medicine is better, but I’ve never been an advocate of “more is better.” Money has corrupted the players, coaches, schools, and the NCAA. Gambling has an enormous potential to ruin college sport. Players are compensated, some extremely well, but the compensation is unequal. Today’s athletes are more prone to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) but we continue to schedule more games. The season ends in late January and many suggest a longer playoff — more money and more injuries. Last year there were 47 bowl games involving 94 teams playing in games like the Pop Tarts or Cheez-It bowls.
Football games often start before school begins, but athletes don’t work in the summer, they have to train. Football is not seasonal; it’s all year.
NIL money and the transfer portal has resulted in the professionalism of college football. Players go to a school that promises them compensation. After a year or two they decide to move elsewhere; they go up for bid. Many play for five years. There’s no home team, long-term player development. LSU is even trying to play athletes who were in the NFL. Coaches and their assistants make exorbitant salaries and there isn’t even a formal set of skills and knowledge that coaches are required to learn. Want to be a florist? Pass a test. Want to be a coach? No knowledge required.
This week I learned that players will now wear advertisements on their jerseys. I remember the time when our LSU athletes got the first purple and gold jersey. Finally, they had made the big time, playing for the home team. Now they’re advertising fried chicken.
Jim Johnson is a retired professor of exercise and sport science after teaching 52 years at Smith College and Washington University in St. Louis. He comments about sport, exercise, and sports medicine. He can be reached at jjohnson@smith.edu.