The disconnect between education, athletics and money is finally being recognized. Here are several general thoughts. -Young athletes are more physically advanced than they were generations ago. -Families and high school programs have invested more in these young athletes than ever before. Things such as camps, club teams, summer workouts, weight training, maybe even personal trainers and dietitians have contributed to families wanting their young athletes to cash in earlier. They’ve been training to be athletes, not students, most of their lives. -The value and quality of education has decreased. People just don't see it as valuable as they did in the past. Just because the cost of education has gone up doesn't mean its value and reputation have gone up. So getting "education" in exchange for services, just doesn't seem like such a great deal anymore. -So when Cardale Jones at Ohio State (AAU school in a conference purporting to be serious about academics) says “I'm not here to play school," he's not wrong; he just said the quiet part out loud. This illustrates that some athletes and maybe most athletes don't see the value in education and they are clearly there to play sports. -I don't know what to call it but I think athletes could major in something just simply called “Athletics.” There's plenty to teach to people wanting to be professional athletes. Instead of having phony majors they can learn about investing, taxes, public speaking, operating sports camps, establishing a small business and other things that would come in handy if they don't make it in the pros. After all, even players who don't go to the NBA or NFL can still make money off of their image as they still have name recognition in their communities. -Further, will athletes even have to go to class anymore? If you think about the clubs in Premier League soccer, most started as factory teams and used factory workers. As stakes got higher (the money and the will to win), the players did soccer full time…to the point where they eventually “hired” people to play who never saw the inside of a factory. Are we headed to that in “college” football? This was long, I know. Thanks for reading. ** Edited by Maroon Baboon at 7/22/2022, 6:03:45 PM