Some folks came down on me on ArmchairGM.com when I said that there is really no "student" in student-athlete (at least with respect to the "prime time" sports).
And now this article :
Touch of class goes a long way for Boston College
By Ivan Maisel ESPN.com
=== Night School Dividends ===
Once you get past the obvious difference in talent, one of the biggest ways in which NFL football is more advanced than college is the amount of time that the players devote to the game. In college, coaches are limited to 20 hours of practice and meeting time per week. In the NFL, 20 hours barely gets a team into Day 3.
Matt Ryan has been able to devote more time to football this season.
The pros have all day. There are no classes, no study hall, no tests, no finals. It's a job.
If there is a hybrid form of football somewhere between the NFL and college football, it is being practiced at No. 2 Boston College. That's not because of the Eagles' talent, although several players will be drafted in April.
"I don't have any classes during the day," quarterback Matt Ryan said with a straight face. He tried, anyway. Then he started laughing. College without classes is pretty much the ideal way to live.
Ryan and 16 teammates, 12 among them starters, already have graduated. NCAA rules dictate that players must be enrolled in a minimum number of hours. Ryan and most of his graduate teammates take a class three nights a week.
Their days are wide open. Though the NCAA imposes the 20-hour limit, there is no limit on voluntary work.
This is a loophole that the NCAA wishes every school exploited. Few universities have the graduation rate that Boston College does. This season, it's paying off on the field.
"To really be able to concentrate on football and not have the distractions that school brings -- as it should; that's the point of being a student-athlete, but it does take time away -- I've been able to prepare a little more," Ryan said. "I can enjoy it … I always prepared the best I could. I feel like I'm prepared better."
Ryan spends his days hanging out with his co-captain, fellow fifth-year senior and postgraduate student Jolonn Dunbar.
"We're the type of guys that are going to go in there and watch and try to put the team in the best situation we can," Dunbar said. "It has nothing but an upside to have guys like that. The whole day, we're hanging out, watching film, working out. I think that helps tremendously. I'm sure that's part of the reason we're in the position we're in."
I know they said this means higher graduation rates . . . but did you catch that quote:
To really be able to concentrate on football and not have the distractions that school brings -- as it should; that's the point of being a student-athlete, but it does take time away -- I've been able to prepare a little more," Ryan said.
Distracted from football by school? Now you tell me where the priority is . . .
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