For better or worse, there has always been an underlying series of subtle differences between professional and college-level sports that have helped to make the two appear to be more unique. The NCAA and the NBA feature two different distances for their three-point lines. When it comes to gridiron football, there’s a one-foot versus two-foot catch rule distinction, so on and so forth.
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However, the latest hot-shot coach of college football, NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, is now calling the legitimacy of the latter into question. “I’d like the professional rules to be implemented into college,” Sanders explained during a recent press event.
“They are getting ready to be pros, so let’s go two feet in on the catches. Let’s mark the foul for pass interference. Let’s do the same thing the pro game is and let’s introduce it to college.”
After reviewing Sanders’ interview on the most recent episode of his self-titled The Rich Eisen Show, the seven-time Sports Emmy Award nominee couldn’t help but agree with the former Atlanta Falcon. “Let’s go,” Eisen exclaimed.
“They already got rid of the nonsense of stopping the clock for first downs to move the chains. He’s right. I mean they’re professionals already, you might as well. Spot on. Let’s go.”
Sanders has also voiced his support for the ability to fine players for things such as uniform violations and skipping classes. Simply put, they may be college kids, but if programs are going to pay them like professionals, then Sanders is expecting them to behave like professionals.
According to Eisen, that makes all the sense in the world. Whether it’s on or off the field, the rules need to adapt with the rest of the NIL era.
“If your job includes getting these kids ready for the next level, you might as well get them ready for the next level. If you’re going to ‘professionalize’ them, then you might as well professionalize the game itself to match what they need to do at the next level.”
Whether it’s the transfer history of T.J. Finley or the notion that Ohio State bought a championship through NIL dealings in 2023, the fact of the matter is that the sudden transfer of wealth from programs to athletes has created an incredibly volatile marketplace. Quarterbacks are fielding hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, just to sit on the bench for a year and learn from the veteran, and while that’s certainly great for them, these programs aren’t as thrilled about it.
Ultimately, Sanders’ idea to hold student athletes to a higher standard seems inevitable. If teams are going to be forced to shell out potentially millions of dollars just to recruit and sign one player, much like an NFL franchise, then it’s only fair that they demand said player behave as a professional.
The landscape of college athletics is one of the most uncertain periods of its existence, meaning that any and everything is on the table right now. Given the amount of influence that Sanders has within the world of athletics right now, fans shouldn’t be surprised to see his ideas being explored by committees in the near future.
