Press Box: Where do I sign?
It’s not often we have to make a decision that will completely change our lives. Sure, we can mess up along the way and one bad night can impact our future, but only to a certain extent. Now, imagine thousands of eyes fixated on you, in eager anticipation you stand at the podium about to speak. Whatever you say next will succumb listeners to tears of happiness or sorrow. I doubt any of us have experienced this type of pressure — especially not at the age of 18.
For most of the sports world, the week of Feb. 1-7 was designated for media coverage leading up to Super Bowl 50. Audiences gravitated to receive the latest scoop in Panthers and Broncos camps. Yet little was mentioned of the younger football players who in just three or four years will be playing in the biggest game of their lives.
On Feb 3., thousands of high school football athletes chose the school that they would call home. National Signing Day was covered by ESPN and other networks following the all-day events, starting as early as 6 a.m. through the late hours of the night, receiving phone calls and videos of players making their announcing which schools they chose.
The attention has been taken away from the actual nuance of a college decision. Instead of glorifying young men making a decision to attend school and be an athlete — an egregious task — the limelight is instead on the way the decision was made. Social media has taken away the severity of the decision and has put negative attention on the student-athlete. Unless the person who coined the term student-athlete thought it sounded worse than athlete-student, which very well could be the case, these young men are students first, and the emphasis should be on that.
The magnitude of attention surrounding this day has heightened in recent years, with some of the most erratic announcements staged for a national audience. The days of giving a coach a phone call saying they have chosen their school is over. Over-the-top announcements have become the norm, and schools have become powerless to the student-athlete.
Instead of Nick Saban, the head football coach for Alabama for instance, crediting the student-athlete in a manner as he pleases, the player now has the power to foretell the prowess of a program for the next couple of years to come. Recruits now make their own way. Is this change good for the sport, or is it a paradigm highlighting the impact of social media in the football landscape?
Don’t get me wrong, every player has the right to make the decision that’s best for him after sitting down with his family and coming to the unsurpassed conclusion. Many players have found this way of coming to a cessation insufficient when making a decision. T.Y. Hilton, the now wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts, is a perfect example.
Hilton, an accomplished high school football athlete, narrowed his decision down to West Virginia and Florida International. Hilton left his collegiate fate to his infant son Eugene Hilton, Jr. When Hilton aligned the two schools’ hats in front of him, his son chose FIU’s hat eight consecutive times. Fortunately for T.Y., the narrative of this story has a happy ending, resulting in 229 career receptions along with 3,531 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns for the Golden Panthers.
Some stories have happy endings and others terrible beginnings. In 2012, Louisiana high school safety Landon Collins decided to announce his commitment at the Under Armour All-American game. Accompanied by his mother, April Justin, and family members, Landon chose to attend Alabama instead of hometown favorite LSU. Justin clearly expressed her visual displeasure after her son’s decision. It wouldn’t be the last time a national audience witnessed her disapproval.
In 2014, Landon’s brother Gerald Willis was also a highly-touted recruit and followed in his brother’s footsteps by deciding live at the Under Armour All-American game. Again, just like two years prior, Justin was aligned beside her son with a displeased look on her face. Willis chose to attend the University of Florida over LSU. Justin’s last chance to have one of her son’s play for LSU.
“It is what it is. Florida Gators, that’s where he will be,” Justin said. “The Tigers are still No. 1.”
I understand the time for flash and creativity is at its peak and the severity behind using props for a decision is not necessarily a fallacious crime to the school or athlete. My concern is that National Signing Day in itself is becoming too big. Recruits may know the school they want to attend weeks in advance, but are waiting to announce their decision on the big day. College coaches can only offer so many players at certain positions scholarships. When players who are first on coaches lists wait until the last possible moment to announce, this puts the players looking for a scholarship in a bind. Coaches are prone to wait and see if they reeled in the big fish before they settle for the smaller.
Whether you pull up in a limo or have Bleacher Report document you running through the streets of your city before stopping at a brick backdrop with the school’s emblem tattooed against the wall, make the decision matter. The way the decision is proclaimed to the country doesn’t amount to anything if the athlete doesn’t match the proliferation of the announcement on the field.
With all this being said, I wonder if April Justin sent her cooking to her boys at school — out-of-state shipping isn’t cheap.
Sports Editor, Bryant Drayton
Bryant is a sports advocate who’s always smiling. He is a senior print and online journalism major aspiring for a career as a professional or college football columnist. Bryant currently covers high school football games for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. // Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn