Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Darnell Dockett recently tweeted that he majored in football while at Florida State.
This is not an uncommon phrase as people often joke and say athletes should major in the sport in which they participate.
Although this is often laughed off, why can’t it be a serious thought? Athletes should be able to major in a sport.
If someone wants to major in football, basketball, baseball or water polo, we should allow it.
Yes, I realize this probably sounds ridiculous, but yes, I am completely serious.
The point of a major is to learn about your potential career and if a player believes their future is playing football or basketball they should learn more about it.
“We celebrate the concept of the student-athlete and expect players with NFL talent to also do well in useless (to them) majors like sociology or public policy and management,” the Heisman Pundit wrote in a 2006 column. “After all, if you are a gifted cello player, you come to a music school to major in cello.”
A football major would still be required to take basic core classes for well-rounded knowledge, but Heisman Pundit outlined a course load that would also allow a freshman to take some football classes as well.
“Core history, core math, English composition, football practice, film study, weight training, sports management, sports media and nutrition,” the Pundit wrote.
Of course, players would be allowed to major in more traditional things such as business or finance, if they were interested in those.
Some of you are probably thinking everyone will choose to become a football major because it sounds easy, which will hurt players who do not go pro.
However, this is not the case.
“For those players who don’t make it, there is always teaching and all kinds of related fields, from strength coach, to personal trainer, to agent, to sports marketer, to sports commentator, that a player can get in to,” the Pundit wrote.
Even if it did do some sort of disservice to players who did not go pro, that would not be anything new as there are plenty of people who work jobs unrelated to their college major.
After all, ASU offers majors in jazz performance, guitar performance and acting.
I would be willing to bet the majority of these majors, if they stay within their field, probably wind up teaching because only the best actors and performers get noticed enough to make a living.
If someone is allowed to put their love for acting into a major without anyone saying it is a stupid or ludicrous idea, an athlete should be able to do the same
Stages, concert halls and auditoriums are apparently perfect places to earn class credit and perfect a craft, yet weight rooms, film studies and stadiums are not?
Something is not adding up.
Reach the columnist at william.boor@asu.edu
