At Boston College, Blurring the Student-Athlete-Professional Line

Last week, we highlighted a couple of big-time college football teams struggling on the field but excelling in the classroom. We suggested it might be difficult, if not impossible, for teams to maintain stellar athletic and academic records given the time constraints and pressures on student-athletes. Are there examples of big-time football schools that are having both athletic and academic success this season?

The most obvious answer is Boston College. After its first loss this past weekend, BCs football team is still ranked #1 in the ACC and #8 in the national polls. And its football players graduate at higher rates than any other team ranked in the top 25.

Unfortunately, upon further research, we discovered that BC's current football team isnt exactly the model example we were looking for. Instead, this season's team is a perfect example of the growing professionalization of college football. BC is one of a growing number of schools that have discovered ways to game the NCAAs academic eligibility rules so that football players can spend the minimum amount of time in the classroom and the maximum amount of time on the practice field and in the media spotlight.

If you look at BCs academic numbers, you would think that its football players are spending a fair amount of time attending class and studying for exams.

BCs "Graduation Success Rate" (a NCAA number that includes transfer students) for football players is 93 percent, while its federal graduation rate is 87 percent (for players entering between 1997 2000). Those numbers put BC at the top of the ACC. The school's only competition in graduating players is Duke University, which is 1-7 this season and has won only three games over the past three seasons, two of which were against Division I-AA teams. [Disclosure: The author of this blog post went to Duke and is proud of its football teams academic achievements. She doesn't, however, have anything nice to say about its athletic performance.]

BC also has a high "Academic Progress Rate" of 976a real-time measure of how players are progressing towards a degreefor its football players that puts it in the 90th to 100th percentile of all Division I-A football teams.

And this season, BC is more dominant on the football field than its been in a long time. While the team has typically been strong, posting only three losses in each of the last three seasons, this year it only has one loss (and was undefeated and ranked #2 before an upset this weekend) and is at the top of the college football world. Not since quarterback Doug Fluties "Hail Mary" pass in his Heisman trophy year in 1984 has the team garnered so much national attention.

Seems like BC should be applauded, right? Well, as Ivan Maisel, an ESPN.com columnist points out, 12 starters on BCs football teamincluding star quarterback Matt Ryanactually arent hitting the books too hard this semester. In fact, theyve already graduated, and while they still have to be enrolled in classes for a minimum number of hours (only six hours, or at BC the equivalent of two classes) to be eligible, they are basically taking a couple of courses at night, doing little work, and spending most of their time preparing for Saturdays game. And BC is paying for each of these players "education" this yearlikely a full scholarship covering tuition and room and board (worth approximately $6,600 in tuition, if the players are taking the minimal six credit hours, plus $7,600 room and board = around $14,200).

As Maisel puts it: "If there is a hybrid form of football somewhere between the NFL and college football, it is being practiced at Boston College."

Its great that these players have graduated. And were not singling out BC for red-shirting football players, a practice that allows college athletes to spread their four years of athletic eligiblity over five years. A redshirt student can practice with a team for five years but only play in official games for four. Red-shirting is a practice commonly used when a player needs more time to develop physically or has an injury. .

But its the professionalization of these players that should raise some eyebrows. Just read Matt Ryans description of a day in his life to the Boston Globe:

"Lets see," said Ryan with a laugh. "I did Fox Sports Net New York, I did Comcast Sports Net Philadelphia. I was on the radio in Philadelphia and Houston. I talked to a guy from the LA Times. I talked to a guy in Houston. I did Rome is Burning. ESPN the Magazine, USA Today later on, the Sunday Globe Magazine."

Or, <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/notebook?page=iform078">from ESPN.com</a><em>: "The whole day, were hanging out, watching film, working out. I think that helps tremendously. Im sure thats part of the reason were in the position were in."</em>
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This is a student-athlete? Hes participating in an activity that the NCAA argues is solely meant to "enhance [his] educational development" and is not primarily a form of entertainment. Lets not pretend. Ryan is simply using this year as a launching pad for his NFL career. And BC is using him and the other already-graduated players as stepping stones in its climb up the football rankings. At $14,200 each, it's not a bad deal for BC, given that the football program brought in $16.5 million in revenue in 2005-06.

BC offers an example of how the line between college football and the NFL is fading. The growing popularity of academic arrangements like BCs ultimately could jeopardize the non-profit status of big-time college sports. If players drop the "student" part of student-athlete, college football becomes a profit-making entertainment enterprise, pure and simple.