Sorry if this is already posted somewhere.
Dear national media:
Allow me to interrupt your preoccupation with making a martyr out of a part-time UCF kicker who voluntarily gave up his college football scholarship because he refused to stop making money on YouTube videos. Instead, let me present to you a better story — a story of another UCF football player who refused to give up on college football despite facing enormous odds and a tremendous physical disadvantage.
Guys, if you really want to make a hero out of a UCF football player, Shaquem Griffin is your man, not Donald De La Haye.
With all due respect, national media, can you tell me why De La Haye, whose only job at UCF was to kick off, has received 10 times more positive publicity and exposure over the last couple of weeks than Griffin has during his entire UCF career? Why is it that a kicker with two good feet who quit the team is a more intriguing national story than a star linebacker with only one good hand who is the reigning American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year?
And why weren’t there dozens of national reporters on hand Wednesday at UCF’s Media Day to tell the sensational, inspirational story of Griffin, who had his left hand amputated when he was just 4 years old due to the repercussions of a congenital birth defect? I know, I know, the national media boys were probably back at home, continuously refreshing their laptops while anxiously awaiting De La Haye’s next YouTube video bashing UCF for having the audacity to tell him he must abide by NCAA rules if he wants to play college football.
It’s sad that Griffin doesn’t get the exposure of De La Haye because, in my mind, he is absolutely the best story in college football.
“When I’m out on that football field, it feels like I have five hands,” Griffin says with an amazing look of desire and dedication in his eyes.
“Shaquem’s drive and work ethic are motivation and inspiration for all of us,” sophomore running back Adrian Killins says. “If he can do it, we can do it!”
Says second-year UCF coach Scott Frost: “When I got here, I didn’t know how Shaquem could function with just one hand. The amazing thing is that after about two practices you forget that’s even an issue.”
So seldom, it seems, do we hear the true song of college athletics anymore. Refreshing stories about student-athletes like Griffin get buried by sexual-assault scandals, academic-fraud scandals, hooker scandals and, most recently, Antonio Callaway and some of his Florida Gators teammates defrauding their own university.
We in the media too often clang our cymbals about the evils of the NCAA and the exploitation of college football players and forget to tell you about the thousands upon thousands of student-athletes who are making the most of their college experience.
It has become the predictable pre-determined narrative to paint college football and the NCAA as the evil empire. But why? Why is UCF so evil for giving De La Haye, a former walk-on, a full-ride scholarship just to kick off? And why is there a manic media rush to commend and congratulate UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen, who made national headlines a few days ago when he said “football and school don’t go together”?
Shaquem Griffin would disagree. He says his college scholarship is one of the best things that ever happened to him. He is so enamored with his UCF experience, he is actually sleeping in the school’s athletic complex during fall drills because he wants to savor every moment of his senior season as a college football player.
“As college athletes, we have access to so many resources to help make us successful,” Griffin says. “I love being a college football player.”
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...-shaquem-griffin-mike-bianchi-0817-story.html
Dear national media:
Allow me to interrupt your preoccupation with making a martyr out of a part-time UCF kicker who voluntarily gave up his college football scholarship because he refused to stop making money on YouTube videos. Instead, let me present to you a better story — a story of another UCF football player who refused to give up on college football despite facing enormous odds and a tremendous physical disadvantage.
Guys, if you really want to make a hero out of a UCF football player, Shaquem Griffin is your man, not Donald De La Haye.
With all due respect, national media, can you tell me why De La Haye, whose only job at UCF was to kick off, has received 10 times more positive publicity and exposure over the last couple of weeks than Griffin has during his entire UCF career? Why is it that a kicker with two good feet who quit the team is a more intriguing national story than a star linebacker with only one good hand who is the reigning American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year?
And why weren’t there dozens of national reporters on hand Wednesday at UCF’s Media Day to tell the sensational, inspirational story of Griffin, who had his left hand amputated when he was just 4 years old due to the repercussions of a congenital birth defect? I know, I know, the national media boys were probably back at home, continuously refreshing their laptops while anxiously awaiting De La Haye’s next YouTube video bashing UCF for having the audacity to tell him he must abide by NCAA rules if he wants to play college football.
It’s sad that Griffin doesn’t get the exposure of De La Haye because, in my mind, he is absolutely the best story in college football.
“When I’m out on that football field, it feels like I have five hands,” Griffin says with an amazing look of desire and dedication in his eyes.
“Shaquem’s drive and work ethic are motivation and inspiration for all of us,” sophomore running back Adrian Killins says. “If he can do it, we can do it!”
Says second-year UCF coach Scott Frost: “When I got here, I didn’t know how Shaquem could function with just one hand. The amazing thing is that after about two practices you forget that’s even an issue.”
So seldom, it seems, do we hear the true song of college athletics anymore. Refreshing stories about student-athletes like Griffin get buried by sexual-assault scandals, academic-fraud scandals, hooker scandals and, most recently, Antonio Callaway and some of his Florida Gators teammates defrauding their own university.
We in the media too often clang our cymbals about the evils of the NCAA and the exploitation of college football players and forget to tell you about the thousands upon thousands of student-athletes who are making the most of their college experience.
It has become the predictable pre-determined narrative to paint college football and the NCAA as the evil empire. But why? Why is UCF so evil for giving De La Haye, a former walk-on, a full-ride scholarship just to kick off? And why is there a manic media rush to commend and congratulate UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen, who made national headlines a few days ago when he said “football and school don’t go together”?
Shaquem Griffin would disagree. He says his college scholarship is one of the best things that ever happened to him. He is so enamored with his UCF experience, he is actually sleeping in the school’s athletic complex during fall drills because he wants to savor every moment of his senior season as a college football player.
“As college athletes, we have access to so many resources to help make us successful,” Griffin says. “I love being a college football player.”
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...-shaquem-griffin-mike-bianchi-0817-story.html
