Nothing empties the streets quicker than when the Ohio State Buckeyes are playing on a Saturday night. That 100,000 people would turn up to watch a spring football scrimmage might seem crazy in other parts of the country, but not to those Ohioans who know that the correct term is scarlet — not red — and who don’t snicker when they hear “THE Ohio State University.” If Urban Meyer decided tomorrow to run for governor, he would win in a landslide. That said, we know and understand that NCAA Division I football isn’t just a game; it’s a money machine whose rules at times seem more arbitrary and punitive than protective. One of its most vocal critics has been former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones, who quit school for a shot at the NFL Draft, which begins Thursday. Like many people, Jones charges that the NCAA also makes money at football players’ expense, while limiting what players can accept. Ask students buried in debt if they think that playing ball in exchange for a six-figure education, sounds like a good deal. Last week, a national sports media outlet reported that Meyer said this of Jones: “A really good skill set, intellectual, very smart, wasn’t necessarily very good at school. I wonder if that kind of set him back a little bit. That’s one difference between pro and college — now he doesn’t have to worry about classes and going to school and all that stuff. He can focus completely on football.” Football factories? Even the slightest suggestion that education is a barrier or an obstacle of some sort sends the wrong message, given how many football players wash upon the rocks after their prime. …
Continue Reading: Charita Goshay: The miseducation of Cardale Jones
