Getting on My Soap Box

Ohio State Graduation: Lots of empty seats


I just can't get past this little statistic I saw on Time.com today about the abysmally low graduation rate for athletes at Ohio State.

What we never learn is what the heck happens to all those kids who don't graduate and don't go on to pro sports? How good could their futures possibly be? How many of them could have gone to other colleges where academics were really valued for everyone, while still getting a chance to play big-time sports? How can we get this message out to more of our young athletes BEFORE they leave high school?

Let me be the bearer of bad news to the thousands of high school football and basketball "stars" out there. You almost have as good a chance of winning the lottery than making the NFL.

Let's do the math: there are 119 major Division I college football programs with approximately 130-140 players on each of their rosters. That's a total of more than 16,600 players. Assuming that a quarter of them are seniors, we're looking at about 4,200 young men trying to squeeze into a pro league that usually only takes about 300 new players from the college ranks each year. But some of those 300 players, about two dozen or so, come from smaller programs including the Division formerly known as IAA.

So if you're a high school athlete and you're lucky enough to be recruited by a college program, and you make the team, and you become a good player, you're still looking at only a 6% chance of making the NFL.

In other words, it's near impossible and you'd better have a plan B. Actually, the NFL should be your plan B, even if you're going to Florida State. Plan A needs to be your education and your non-sports career.

If you're a high school player with decent enough grades to get into an Ivy, you will have a much better chance of making the team and starting once you're there. You can still make the NFL, but the chances of hooking yourself up with a good job after graduation are much, much better than 6%. In fact, a star Ivy football player has to go a long way to piss potential employers off before he messes up his chances that badly.

I realize one key stumbling block is the money up front. A lot of parents understandably balk at the huge loans most of them will have to take out to pay the Ivy tuition when a free ride offer is on the table too. I happen to think tuition is out of control, so I'm not defending the costs, but the average focused Ivy graduate will be able to pay back that loan and then some in what will seem like a short time in the long run, (most of my Columbia friends are high-earners and they rolled whatever was left of their student loans into their mortgages to take advantage of lower rates and get a bigger tax break).

If you're cocky enough to believe you can make it in the NFL, then coming out of an Ivy won't hurt you as much as getting lost in the shuffle at a big D-I school will hurt your chances of having a successful career. And don't even think about taking your chances as a non-college graduate out there, unless you're a genius web page designer or a damned good entrepreneur with financing.

The other stumbling block is the academics. I'm no snob when it comes to the Ivy education; I think a lot of students can hack the coursework and succeed once they get in. The trouble is that it's getting so hard to get in, that my theory is impossible to prove. Athletes are getting a great chance to access what would otherwise be inaccessible, and in return they give Ivy college students and alums a social and recreational outlet we otherwise wouldn't have. And when you realize that so many of the athletes are actually ADDING something to the academic quality of their schools, then you see that everybody wins.

And if your kid really is the real deal athletically, there's an argument to be made that he will get an even BETTER chance to make it in pro sports because the national media attention for a superstar Ivy athlete is much greater than the average top-notch player in a bigger league. Lots of sports fans know recent Brown grad and current NY Giant Zak DeOssie, but the dozens of other players at his skill level are basically anonymous.

My message to parents of top-notch high school athletes with good study skills is this: consider the Ivies. The price tag is high, but there's no getting around the fact that your kid will have a 99% chance of graduating from one of the schools that continue to churn out our nation's business, cultural, and political leaders. Yes, the cost will be high, but consider that with the free education your child is being offered at a big sports factory, there's a good chance you'll be getting what you pay for. Even at great academic non-Ivies like Michigan, Virginia, and Stanford, there are "athlete-track" courses and majors that are far less challenging than the average student's course load. Employers know this, and while playing for the "ol' big Sports U." might get your kid an offer to work at the local car dealership or real estate office, there is so much more to choose from for Ivy grads.

Ivy grads, even from schools with relatively little football and basketball success, have unique access to top brokerage firms, hedge funds, and other financial powerhouses. The other professions are not as well represented, but there are still connections to take advantage of in the best law firms, medical schools, and corporations. And each and every one of those employers knows that your kid passed the gauntlet of fire that is being an athlete in a demanding Ivy school where no one gets much of a break once they get in.

Straddling your kid, (or yourselves), with tens of thousands of dollars in debt to get there is basically worth it. Most rich kids and their parents would be more than happy to shell out that kind of dough to get in to an Ivy... and they'd still be rejected.

If you're worried that your kid just doesn't have the work ethic to make in the Ivy classrooms, think again. He's already showing a real work ethic by being a top high school athlete. If he doesn't do the same in the classroom, then it's time for some "tough love." Get him a tutor, study for those SAT's and make sure your child puts the same effort into his studies. It just might work.

Ivy athletes have an unprecedented rate of success when compared to any other kind of alumni from Ivy or non-Ivy schools. Don't let a little sticker shock scare you away.

And now... some comic relief

Okay, enough serious stuff, for some quick comic relief, read this great story about former Harvard soccer great Shep Messing. He's done it all.

And if you want some comic relief of a longer variety, check this story out about a hapless Columbia freshman crew team member back in the late 1950's. He was in the so-called "pickle boat."

And here's a picture of Columbia great Lou Kusserow that you can buy on eBay. It's a rarely clear picture.