Posted by
Billy on Monday, February 15, 2010 1:26:06 PM
There's nothing within the contradictions and hypocrisies of NCAA law prohibiting a 13-year-old from orally committing to a college football program before he has picked a high school.
David Sills followed the rules.
David is a 6-foot-1 middle school quarterback in Delaware, deemed the next football prodigy. He wants to go to the University of Southern California. New Trojans coach Lane Kiffin wants him to go there, offering Sills a scholarship that he can't sign for another five years.
But permissibility doesn't excuse parents from condoning a stunt like this in some grab for cheap celebrity. The Sills family doesn't understand why this decision attracted national attention. They don't think it's a big deal. But perhaps they could explain the national television talk-show circuit they took last week to tell their motives while bringing more attention on a 13-year-old who should worry about being a kid.
Blame the NCAA, insists Sills' father, David.
But that's like blaming McDonald's for teenage obesity because it offers fatty foods. That doesn't mean that parents should sit by and watch their 13-year-old devour quarter-pounders like potato chips.
(I don't blame the parents alone but I think this is something the parents along with the NCAA, and football coaches need to think about. 13 year old kids aren't ready to decide where they want to go to college or play college football. This is not meant to slam USC because I have been a fan of theirs for a number of years. However being from the state of Nebraska where football is talked about 12 months of the year I can't believe the great coach who now heads up the sport's office there Tom Osborne would ever try to get a 13 year old to commit to the University of Nebraska. Is this what college football is coming to. The USC coaches should have encouraged this kid to keep trying his best in football , and in the classroom while having fun in life. The parents should have said my son is playing middle school football if you want to talk to him come back in 5 or 6 years. Read more of the above piece Opinion: Parents .)
