“Some of these cats came from 3,000 miles away to play here, to be a part of this, to be a part of all of this!” UAB tight end Tristan Henderson hollered at [UAB president Ray] Watts during his meeting with the team. “But you say numbers? That’s what you come here to say, numbers?”
University of Alabama Birmingham men don’t understand that the school can’t afford football. In order for them to understand why the school shut down the program, they would have to understand numbers.
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Professor Mondo found another good quotation (UD didn’t find it because she couldn’t bear to read the whole article):
“Now you’re telling me I’ve got two more years left to play and I’ve got to give up on football and settle for an education?”
December 3rd, 2014 at 9:45AM
[…] indefatigable Margaret Soltan pointed me at the article I linked, and she emphasized a quote from one UAB player, but I found this one far more telling […]
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:40AM
UD, no one said you had to be smart to play football….
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:00AM
To be fair, much of what the video documented were young men who were reacting as if they had just been told their company had shut down and were out of work. Which is the point, they were all hired hands, traveling however far in order to gain something they couldn’t have any other way. No, not an education, but a chance at a pro football career.
UAB, and other unis, sell illusions, to their student body and to their athletes. To the undergrads, pay us to help you float effortlessly to an upper-middle class existence. To the footballers, allow us to give you an entry to pro football riches. Delusions die hard, and the vid is stark evidence that when it all comes down, it won’t be easy….