by Nashid Shabazz

Created on: May 19, 2008

Religion in College Football
Stepping Off the Field into a Coach's Dream

College football is one of the biggest sporting events that writhes through the hearts and veins of many Americans. Some of its fans have never even thrown a football in their life, yet they breathe it; they live it. If you would ask any of its many fans, their reasons for watching college football would always be the same. "It's the players!" "I like the coach!" "The feel of the game is the reason I watch." "It's all about team spirit!" The number one response would be: "I support the school and my community." These responses put a lot of responsibility on the coaches and players to make sure they continue to receive support from their adoring public.

Some college coaches have decided to invite their players into religious deviants in hopes of unitizing and boosting the morale of the team. It comes to no surprise that critics will immediately jump into this college football forum to make sure their great game is adequately protected. Of true importance are the players and how too much control has left them on the sidelines.

Coach Bobby Bowden of Florida State University says that "70 percent of his players come from single-parent homes or are reared by an extended family" (Drape F1). Ethics is a very big question in college football today. This doesn't apply just to the players but also the staff. The reason being is the incredible amount of money involved including gambling, promotion and school investments. At huge amounts, in millions or maybe billions, temptation on all sides can supersede the importance and integrity of the game (Ethics, par. 1).

Back in 1925, football was all about the players' well-being and total conditioning. At Springfield College, summer school football students would be taught three drills that emphasized the essentials toward the success of their ability and their team. The person teaching them, Mr. Rockne, believed a football player need to "establish freedom and power of movement,... and the science of correct falling and rolling with perfect relaxation" (Langmack ix-x). One could think that this would be enough to ensure the success of a football team but obviously not in our society today. Football nowadays is a medley of players, coaches, multitudes of fans, critics, impresarios, scouts, and a long opaque trail of cash.

Coaches can't just coax these players and embed in them Rockne's three drills; they have to make sure, to their greatest ability, that these

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