Fox Sports columnist Jen Floyd Engel should be reprimanded for foolishly comparing college football star Johnny Manziel to Rosa Parks. In a recent article, Engel compared the NCAA rules against athletes receiving money to the Civil Rights movement.
Engel wrote, “What kick-started change was an average, everyday woman named Rosa Parks, who had grown tired of being tired. Hers was not the first protest, nor was it particularly the best. It was merely the tipping point for many Americans long since tired of these immoral laws.”
For those unfamiliar with the most recent controversy, Manziel, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, is being investigated for taking $7,000 for signing autographs. Many journalists, including ESPN’s Jay Bilas, has blasted the NCAA for receiving millions while making sure players aren’t compensated beyond scholarships.
However, some beleive that Manziel is being defended because he is white. Many of those same journalists who are defending Manziel were quiet or even blasted the black players who were reprimanded or accused of receiving money while playing NCAA football.
Terrelle Pryor, Reggie Bush and Cam Newton are a few black players who were ridiculed for doing the same things that Manziel is accused of doing.
Of course, the NCAA is a huge hypocritical machine that uses the players to make millions. However, comparing Manziel to Rosa Parks is a huge disservice to Parks and the significance of a movement that really mattered.
