Is college football the main path into the NFL? How'd that even start? In pretty much every other sport in every other country, players finish high school and then start playing at the highest level. They may spend time back in the second division, but they get games.
Are college sports really that popular? Do they take the spot of 2nd/3rd division? Why do players waste years in college? It makes no fucking sense to me.
>Are college sports really that popular?
yup
>Are college sports really that popular?
Yes. They are most popular in areas that did not have an NFL team. Also the NFL wasn't super popular until the 60s and 70s.
>>Do they take the spot of 2nd/3rd division?
That's exactly what they do. Out of 25 High School seniors signed to a top flight school like Alabama about 10-15 will stay with the team through their senior year. Out of that 15 or so you will see about 4 get drafted into the NFL and 4 get tryouts (What we call being an Undrafted Free Agent).
Out of those 8 about 5 make an NFL roster that first year.
Alabama has 35 players on active NFL rosters.
>>Why do players waste years in college? It makes no fucking sense to me.
Half of all players who sign will never see the field and just use it as a way to get an education. The other half with pro potential need to get bigger and stronger to play in the NFL.
A big offensive lineman in high school will bench press 350 lbs and squat 500 and be about 275 lbs. A big offensive lineman in the pros will bench press 500+ lbs, squat 600+ lbs and be about 320 lbs.
College football was #2 in popularity behind MLB in popularity from their respective, and now that I think about it, nearly concurrent inceptions all the way up until probably the early- to mid-80s. In this case the egg came before the chicken.
College football and basketball teams fund our education system. We may be guilty of exploiting young black men, but at least we have the smartest citizens in the world, per capita. It's a small price to pay.
No Burger would watch 2nd/3rd divisions except the residents in the countryside or some irrelevant flyover state.
In the early part of the century, college football was far more popular than pro football, and was played by true amateurs at Ivy League schools and the military academies. Pro football exploded in the 1960s, and at the same time college football spread out in popularity across the country, especially in areas too small to have pro teams (Alabama, Nebraska, Oklahoma, etc). It very conveniently provided the NFL with a developmental league without having to pay for one. And now too many powerful people are making money (NFL, college presidents and coaches) and they have no incentive to change the system.
>tl;dr: it's a historical quirk
>we have the smartest citizens in the world, per capita.
What does that even mean? The highest number of smart people per 1000 inhabitants? At any rate, I'd like to see some source on this.
It's a joke dumbshit
do people unironically enjoy handegg?
In the US you'll literally see adults who clearly have nothing to do with the university, wearing university Tshirts or sweatshirts or hats. It's creepy to me, but normal to them.
College sports is a huge industry there. Even in high school players are untouchable -- walk in and out of class like it's their livingroom, given good grades even if they're illiterate, all their bad behaviour is ignored or hidden.
In university it's even worse, no one expects them to actually learn a thing. They're basically unpaid employees who make the university a ton of money and are spit out at the end, with a tiny percentage going on to the NFL.
If you read the BOOK Friday Night Lights you'll get the idea of badly these guys are used. (The TV show was a rah rah affair that had nothing to do with the book, which focussed on the racism and how badly off these high school players are, how they get no education, get used by their schools, and are then forgotten.
It's sad, but they have their own free will, I suppose.
inb4 I don't know shit -- I used to live in Highland Park (Dallas)
Yes Kiwi, it's a great fucking physical strategy game.
Football is a strength game. No amount of ability can prepare you for the NFL, where you'll be against grown men that have many more years of trainijg and growth than you. Each year in college is a chance to get bigger, and if the rumors are to be believed most college programs have a shady lesser coach who will hook you up with steroids and such.
I played High School football in the midwest and FNL was an exaggeration.
If you read the book you notice a number of parts that aren't just anti-football player but anti-masculinity.
This will make more sense when you know that HG "Buzz" Bissinger is transitioning to being a woman.
>Football is a strength game. No amount of ability can prepare you for the NFL, where you'll be against grown men that have many more years of trainijg and growth than you. Each year in college is a chance to get bigger, and if the rumors are to be believed most college programs have a shady lesser coach who will hook you up with steroids and such.
The same is true of AFL and rugby, and you don't have players spending years in 2nd tier competitions just so they get bigger. I think you are trying to justify the system you have rather than examining why it is the way that it is.
And college players do it for free. They would have to pay hundreds of millions in wages to players in a second division.
Really sucks for players who don't make it to the NFL. They are top athletes, performing their sport to a very high standard and they just retire. Soccer players of the equivalent standard make 6 figures their whole career in some lower league.
I bet the NFL sets up some sort of development league in the next 10 years though.
>are college sports really that popular
They are more popular than professional sports.
not in civilized parts of the country.
I'm sure tired of these comparisons to rugby.
ONLY THE PERSON WITH THE BALL CAN GET HIT IN RUGBY.
Every single person gets hit on every single play in football except for maybe the kicker.
The average weight of an NFL offensive lineman is like 325+ lbs.
18 years olds wouldn't stand a chance.
It's not like baseball or basketball or golf or hockey or gay ass rugby.
These are grown men.
you can't usually play major league baseball either at such a young age unless you're a prodigy.
Notice how I said AFL and Rugby, you fuckwit. The two most popular contact sports in Australia. I disnt say anything disparaging either.
Athletic departments are operated independently from the school. They are funded via donors and ticket sales. Your tuition doesn't go towards that.
DON'T POST THIS UGLY CUNT RRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE