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Don't blame the players who turn pro
Cash not only reason athletes leave college
Out in Phoenix before the Fiesta Bowl, Malcolm Kelly was asked how West Virginia would respond to the loss of its coach, Rich Rodriguez, who had bolted for Michigan.
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No big deal, Kelly said. Players know what the score is.
Here's what Kelly meant. College football is a business. A big business. The coaches drive home that point every day, never more so than when they jump their team for another job.
It's a point not lost on the players.
So when Malcolm Kelly, Curtis Lofton and Reggie Smith declare for the NFL draft, we shouldn't ask why so many Sooners are turning pro. We should ask, why so few?
Most players do not embrace the romanticism of college football clung to by fans and media. Most college players at schools like Oklahoma enjoy their team, their coaches, their total experience. But the campus life is not nirvana.
The NFL is where they want to be. And it's not all about money.
A lot of it's about money. Players see the opulent world in which the football program operates, the lifestyles their coaches lead, and they want a piece of the pie, too.
But some of the longing for the NFL is about freedom.
I chatted with Yard Dawgz coach Gary Reasons last week about his old New York Giant days.
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