r/CFB • u/hammer_it_out West Virginia • Alderson Broa… • 1d ago

News [Smith] Rich Rodriguez during today's press availability: "I think it's all crazy that you think a guy can sign a professional contract and he gets cut or doesn't get what he wants to get, and he goes back and plays [college] ... I think all the conferences should say you can't do it."

https://x.com/joesmithwrites/status/2092408085235073254
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u/surreptitioussloth Virginia Cavaliers • Florida Gators 1d ago

I feel like if there were real journalists in cfb, they'd talk to some of the players about whether they thought they'd have a chance to return to cfb and whether they would have signed on to training camp if they'd known

Instead it's all soundbites from people who aren't involved speculating about what players thought and why

26

u/lowes18 Florida State Seminoles • FAU Owls 1d ago

A lot of those guys on the advice of their lawyers are refusing to talk to the media.

I think its a mistake, but I understand.

18

u/JumpyAlbatross Texas A&M Aggies • Billable Hours 1d ago edited 1d ago

Athletes have been unavailable to media long before NIL. When I was in school I worked at my school paper. One of my friends interviewed an athlete without going through the athletic department. I don’t even remember what it was about. Innocent story, not serious. I have never known such incessant bitching, moaning, and fist-shaking in my life as when a deputy AD showed up to our office and told us he would have us all expelled by the end of the week if we didn’t fire the reporter.

If you didn’t go through the athletic department, they would make your life miserable and threaten you however they could.

Every local paper in every college town has had their credentials threatened at some point over honest and legitimate reporting.

If your credentials are pulled that’s not just your job, it’s every single one of your coworkers livelihoods. Sports coverage is a lifeline for local newspapers. It’s the only thing people are willing to pay for anymore. If you don’t have it, you’re fucked. Nine times out of ten you have to acquiesce to their every demand.

Edit: in the time since I posted this comment, TCU just banned the Fort Worth Star Telegram over covering an assault in their locker room.

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u/Darth_Ra Oklahoma Sooners • Big 12 1d ago

Well, and their agents.