Football fans across the nation rejoiced this past weekend over the commencement of the 2010 college football season. The nation’s top black college football players took the field with the hopes of leading their teams to the BCS title game. But while black athletes are breaking records on the football field, they are still graduating at abysmal rates compared to their white teammates.
According to a study done by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at UCF, some of the top 21 bowl-bound teams of 2009 graduated less than half of their black American football players.
Although the athletes are also at fault for not taking their studies seriously, most of the blame must be placed on the administrators, athletic directors and coaches who use these college athletes to earn their schools millions of dollars.
The coaches and athletic directors should always have a firm idea of how their athletes are performing in the classroom and keep them on track to graduate. But how can the coaches and athletic directors be trusted to keep these athletes on track when their million-dollar salaries are predicated on the outcome of football games?
College coaches don’t get wealthy by graduating athletes. They receive bonuses and contract extensions by recruiting the top athletes and winning the most games.
As long as money continues to drive college football, black players will make their schools winners on the football field and receiving an education will remain an afterthought. –amir shaw
