Changing the Game

College football is renowned for its passionate play, even more so than is known among the professional athletes in the NFL. For college athletes, they compete because of the pure love of the game as compared to NFL players playing to fill their bank account. College football is loved because of the pure passion and intensity viewers can sense and feel from the players.

            Weeks ago I wrote about the changes in the NFL to make the game safer, but are those changes actually damaging the integrity and purity of the game?

            According to ESPN, the NCAA made an announcement Thursday that players can now be ejected from games for what they term as an illegal hit, or in other words a hit to a defenseless player above the shoulders. No doubt player safety should be a priority in college football, but at the point where it will inhibit the athletes from being able to compete? I recall years ago watching a would be quarterback sack when the defender decided better to not tackle the quarterback because he thought he had passed the ball and was afraid of repercussions from the referees and potentially his coaches. Consequentially, he didn’t tackle the quarterback and the quarterback responded by rolling out and throwing a touchdown pass.

            In a college sport where kids play for the pure love of the game, is it fair to take away their intensity on the field because they may fear suspension from half of their current game and half of the next game scheduled? With the little changes being implemented in college football, are the athletes slowly playing a different game than was played years ago?

            Protect the players by issuing safer equipment, but don’t limit the athlete’s ability to play the game they love. Allow them to compete, don’t scare them from truly playing. College football is entertaining because of the love of the game, don’t change that.