Iowa Football's Rollercoaster Ride

This weekend marked the beginning of the 2008 college football season. Along with the first games, journalists are taking advantage of reporting on the poor decisions many of the football players make. Since 2007, 22 crimes have been reported against different University of Iowa football players. There has been speculation that the lawyers chosen to represent the players are giving them special treatment and doing more than what they would do for the average client. I agree with the fact that all of the athletes should be represented in court, but they should not be given different sentences than the average citizen.

Division I athletes are being paid to represent their school on and off of the playing field. They should not abuse this privilege by taking advantage of their higher status. Several cases deal with the alleged rape of female students. The athletes know when they are taking advantage of an intoxicated female and should take responsibility for their actions instead of hiding behind the college’s hired attorney. The article does point out that in some cases the females are trying to take advantage of the athlete for attention, but the players should just avoid the situation entirely. I think that investigations ran by off-campus sources are the best way to deal with situations like these to avoid favoring the athlete or the victim.

Unfortunately everyone makes mistakes and these athletes have to deal with the fact that their mistakes will be publicized. I think that if the NCAA creates stricter policies that deal with criminal charges for athletes and supports their policies, sooner or later the athletes will learn make better decisions off the field so that they can remain on the field.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080831/NEWS10/808310335

Jessica Hartgers