By Martin Gallegos
For those die-hard college football fans out there, Wednesday was Christmas in February. National Signing Day.
The yearly tradition of finding out where all the top high school football players in the nation would go to college continued. My personal favorite was finding out that Snoop Dogg’s son, wide receiver Cordell Broadus, would be heading to UCLA to become a Bruin.
Broadus was just one of the hundreds of students athletes monitored throughout the day.
These athletes deserve to get coverage from the media for their outstanding efforts both on the field and in the classroom, but the amount of overexposure from ESPN and other sports news outlets is just sickening.
Talking heads come on the air after each high school recruit makes his decision and they just slobber all over these kids with comparisons to all-time great football players. Before they even step foot onto a college field. It’s no wonder why some of these athletes develop character issues and problems with their attitude. Maybe we shouldn’t be sticking millions of cameras and microphones in their face at the age of 17. At least let them finish out their senior year of high school in peace.
ESPN and its networks dedicated 12 hours of coverage to this event alone this year, continuing to make money while the recruits, themselves, get nothing.
We don’t need teenage kids deciding their college futures all over national television. A simple news article on the web would suffice. Also, think of the pressure we are putting on these kids. Deciding what college to attend is a life-changing decision, yet we put a deadline on it for these students who are usually weighing several different options. Let them take as much time as they need to decide where they want to go.
Recruiting athletes is an essential part of college football, so I get the attention that surrounds it. I have no problems with the top high school athletes in the nation getting some of the spotlight, but the coverage of signing day has just gone way too far. It’s just unhealthy.