Johnny Manziel: At the front of the battle for the Amateur Pros

nydailynews.com

Sport has always been sport. Men, women, boys and girls… have always taken the field to test their mettle in athletic competition. To push ones self to the limit in the stakes to be the very best—to dare to reach for and make it to the top of the mountain, above all others, is why there is sport.

That is Adam.

Joining a team—a school, a league, whether it bowling or football, has the militant ingredient we humans crave. The camaraderie and companionship… the brotherhood… the love. To be pushed, to be plodded, coaxed and inspired to bring our personal best to a group to become a world champion. If for no other reason than to not be the weakest link in a chain, it is the driving force in sport.

Yes, this would be Eve.

In our earliest memory of sporting competition, there was grainy black and white film. There was warbled audio and only one vantage point—that of the cameraman.

If we were fortunate enough to attend live, we were far from the action. Not getting the chance to see our heroes up close, let alone actually wear the same cap they were wearing.

At once, that would all change. The day when the technology would introduce itself to the game. That very moment when a microphone was placed in front of an athletes mouth and while the camera glared at him, was asked to tell the world why he was the better player that day.

That… was the apple.

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We’ve come a long way in the world in such a short time. And while, on the sporting landscape, we have witnessed some of the most inspiring and poignant moments in history, we have created a monster.

In the 1970’s, great teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Reds and Boston Celtics repeatedly dominated their sports and made the names of men who were simply playing a game, household names.

Long before there was ESPN and fantasy football, there was a real water cooler. A large jug of water in a stand with a spickett in the corner of the break room or the bosses office where men ,and sometimes even women, could have conversations about Roger Staubach and Joe Namath.

Rarely, if ever, during those conversations was a player’s contract negotiations ever discussed. Chances are, we had no idea. And as working stiffs ourselves… it was disrespectful to talk about another guy’s earnings.

Now, that is more important than the actual game on the field. Or at least, that is what we are led to believe.

Many players say into those microphones that they would play for free, they love the game so much. And while I would like to believe that, it is just not possible for them to imagine such a thing.

Most, if not all, of the Green Bay Packers players from the first Super Bowl winning team in history, held jobs as insurance salesmen and contractors in the offseason.

The majority of today’s professional athletes have been coddled since they were in Little League. Told they are part of a team and that winning is not as important as sportsmanship and the experience, yet being told in private that they are better than the rest.

All the while, we as fans, now savvier than ever, wait impatiently for the next world’s greatest athlete.

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Progress is inevitable. Even though it seems that organized sports should remain true to its grass roots, expecting Tom Brady to sell life insurance during the summer is just not feasible.

Professional sport is a tremendously successful business in our day and age. Teams now have hundreds of employees from scouts to administrators to marketing advisors. It is no longer 40 guys in shoulder pads playing a game on Sunday afternoon.

This is acceptable. Where it is starting to cross the line—and we should question this as progress or the eventual damning of the way our games are structured, is when the college athlete is brought into the fold.

Professional football is the only game on the forefront of American sport where an athlete is required to play in college. Or at least be of age of his graduating class before he can become eligible to be drafted as a pro. This rule was made long ago to protect young men who were physically under-developed for the pros.

This, in many ways, has held certain young men back. Dozens, if not more, players competing in major college football over the past 20 years have been ready for the jump to the NFL before the age of 21.

Being physically able to keep up on the gridiron is one thing, but the mental aspect is the question. The maturity.

In MLB and the NBA, 18-20 year olds are often tossed onto the national scene to now perform for big pay. In college, the coach takes the beating for the interceptions and the missed three-pointers at the buzzer. In the pros, it’s the player.

MLB has a flawless system. Every team is afforded dozens of draft choices and can pick young players out of high school knowing good and well they are not ready and will accept good college offers. And, if a player only wants to pursue pro baseball, then that organization can stick that kid in a small market with a little rookie league affiliate and pay him a small contract to live out his dream. If he can climb the ladder to the pros and be a real major leaguer… then it works out perfectly for all involved.

The NHL and MLS are different animals because they have the entire globe as their player pool. Rarely does a football or baseball player come from a European country.

Still, each of these leagues has functional minor league and homeland affiliated farm systems where they can groom players and allow them to develop.

Football—namely the NFL, has no such league. They rely solely on college football.

This was good 30-40 years ago, but now seems in need of a revamping.

College football players do not need to be paid, as many have suggested. That would be the easy answer—and an expensive one. If universities were to ditch paying for education and go straight to putting those checks into a players checking account, there could be major bankruptcy going on in any conference outside of the SEC.

This of course is hot topic once again in the wake of the Johnny Manziel investigation for profiting from signing memorabilia.

The fact it is Manziel, and not some second string guard on half tuition is the disturbing point. But what’s disturbing is that no one wants the second string guard’s autographed cleat anyway so who can win here?

This is the basis of the argument of athletes turning professional. John Calipari, the head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, has conceded to the one-and-done culture of today’s college basketball. He knows he must recruit, sign and coach a team with the promise of a final four appearance each and every year.

The same is with baseball at the collegiate level. If you get them, play them for a run at the College World Series now, because if they’re really good, they will be drafted into the pros and you will be in a rebuilding year instantly.

Football has always been a little bit different. Guys, blue-chippers, would be highly recruited out of high school, choose the school of their choice and play their butts off to wear those colors for four years.

These players abided by campus rules, went to class and basically fit into the all-around college campus lifestyle. And why not? It is an experience one would never forget. And not just for the games that these players would participate in, but for the friendships, the knowledge, the camaraderie—the education that they would receive. It was all paid for in full by the university.

Now, and Manziel has gotten himself caught up in this mess, college stars have found it too irresisitible to say no to the alumni—or whoever is throwing out these secret big bucks.

Manziel’s family has money. He doesn’t need the dough. So why? Let’s say he did do the alleged autograph signings—was it for the thrill? Was Johnny Football nervous at all of being caught while he was signing all that cool stuff that the orchestrator was going to quadruple profits in the sales of his famous name?

Is there something else there? Does Manziel owe this person, or organization something? A gambling debt? Could it even be as bad as blackmail? It’s no secret that Manziel is no angel. So much so, that he may have put a target on his back.

This goes back to the question of maturity.

Last winter, when the hype had all fallen to Manziel as being the Heisman Trophy favorite, there were some rumblings in the old fogies room. As it has turned out… with good reason. He was too young to win the award. Not because he was a freshman, but because he was not ready to carry the responsibility that comes with the trophy.

Johnny Football—as his nickname may suggest, is still a wonderboy. A raw talent on the field and a wild child off it. There have been many, many before him that fit this mold, but the ones we remember with fondness are the ones who were able to balance the load.

This is where the NCAA perhaps could step in and alleviate some of the pressures on these kids.

Yes, they receive top scholarship rewards for participating in the sport of their expertise. Yes, some even have the grades to back up the excellence on the field.

Why not allow these players to earn money off their names and college affiliations outside of campus?

No autograph signings on memorabilia or exchanges for tattoos necessary. Simply allow the players to hire commercial agents to get them endorsement deals. The schools all have contracts with equipment suppliers—Nike, Reebok, Under Armour… just like the pros. Allow these young men—and women, the opportunity to negotiate their own deals. Isn’t this what today’s college is about anyway? How to make a buck? Marketing and business majors would love this.

Of course there will need to be guidelines established, as there always are, which leaves room for the rule benders, but it would be a start.

Do not pay the Johnny Manziels of the world. They are getting a full education in exchange for playing a game in their school’s colors. That should be good enough for everyone on that level. If these guys can negotiate their own personal deals—as long as it is within the marketing rights of their universities, then what’s the problem?

Like they say—times have changed, people don’t change. It’s true really. From the first microphone in the face of the kid who won the game to Lebron James having to answer to the world why he chose to take his talents to South Beach… we are listening.

Not because we really want to, but because it’s now part of the game.