I'm in the middle of a brain fart, but who was the DL who took 3 years or so to qualify? He persevered and was a stud for us. People like him are why we hope the Valentines figure it out.
I had thought that going to some online school like the University of Phoenix would be cheap but somebody who was doing it told me how much it cost and how much her student loans were. Amazing for a college with a football stadium but no team.
Better for the NFL to operate a minor league like major league baseball has always done. Then those that can't spell CAT and those that would really prefer to play football without going to college could do so. And then universities could actually revert to playing games between student athletes.
That would make it a whole lot like college baseball. Nice but not nothing great. There would be a whole lot of empty seats in the big stadiums. Many of the kids are doing the bare minimum on a tailored degree plan to get by. At least they are being held to a 'student behavior' standard in college and are exposed to some sort of learning. Although, Tulane could compete for a National Championship.
It wouldn't work. Haven't you ever heard of NFL Europe? The reason it wouldn't work is that the minor league teams would have no fanbase and the NFL would have to totally subsidize the operation at a loss. Colleges have a built in fanbase. Minor league baseball works because it's baseball, not football. There are successful minor league baseball teams even in cities that have major league franchises. New York has several. There is one a few miles from Atlanta in Gwinnett, GA. The Sugarland Skeeters stadium is less than 20 miles from the Astros Minute Maid Park. How many people do you think would show up for games for the St. Louis Lambs, The Kenner Kingfish or The Boca Raton Fish? And when would they play? Certainly not on fall Sundays or even Saturdays. Football has been tried in the spring and summer and has always failed. Better for these non collegiate types to play for college teams and prepare the majority of them who won't be earning a big check on future Sundays to be able to get jobs. Another factor is that a lot of the players who aren't fit for learning academics are damned good football players. I would much rather see them on the field at Tiger Stadium than not watch them play for the Jackson Jokers or the Chalmette Crawfish.
