5 Myths about College Athletes

author: Kel Hawkins

There are a lot of wrong accusations about college athletes that need to be corrected. People on the outside looking into the world of college sports need to understand that college athletes struggle with college life too. College is hard regardless of you being an athlete or vice versa. There are a lot of ridiculous stereotypes about college athletes that I would like to prove wrong. The five myths that I will be discussing are: college athletes receive lots of free stuff, college athletes are unintelligent, college athletes only hang out with other college athletes, college athletes don’t have to go to class, and that all college athletes get full-rides athletic scholarship to pay for school. 

Myth #1: College Athletes Receive lots of Free Stuff 

This myth is clearly a bust. A lot of the stuff you see college athletes walking around with is not for them to keep. At Campbellsville University the football team is given certain things that the players have to give back. At the end of each season some of the stuff that was given to the players need to be returned. Sometimes players get to keep some hoodies and things but for the most part the things given to you are usually returned. In other cases at other schools sometimes the players will get extra clothes from their sport but it is all stuff from their sport.

Myth #2: College Athletes are Unintelligent.

Not all college athletes are dumb. There are plenty of examples of professional athletes that are insanely intelligent. “Ryan Fitzpatrick, the current quarterback for the buffalo bills, was an economics major and got into Cambridge with a 1580 SAT score” (Israeli). A lot of college athletes are intelligent, a lot just do not apply themselves. Another example of a professional athlete being a tank in the classroom is Pau Gasol, a professional basketball player. “Gasol is self-taught in Italian and French, and speaks a total of five languages (along with English, Spanish, and Catalan” (Israeli). Also for most schools, Athletes have to maintain a 2.5 GPA to continue to be apart of the team. 

Myth #3: College Athletes Only Hang out with College Athletes.

This myth can be true at the beginning of the semester because there are a bunch of freshman coming in that only see their teammates for three weeks. As the first couple of weeks go by and then is when you start meeting new people from class. Also some athletes can even join a fraternity or sororities, which helps with meeting people from outside your sport. Other ways that college athletes find new people to hang out with is because of their major.

Myth #4: College Athletes Don’t Have to go to Class.

This myth is completely wrong and I do not understand how this became a myth. On most college teams if a player does not go to class the whole team has a punishment. Julia Smagazc, from Akron athletics, says “At Akron, the athletic department even runs random “class-checks,” sending the grad assistants out to certain classes to ensure that student-athletes are present. Class attendance is mandatory, and enforced.” Also at the Campbellsville University the coaches of the football tend to check classrooms to make sure players are attending class. 

Myth #5: All college Athletes get full-ride athletic scholarship to pay for school.

Not a lot of student-athletes get a athletic full-ride scholarship. A lot of athletes, like myself, get a partial scholarship from their sport and have to rely on academic scholarships or financial aid grants to pay for the rest of tuition. According to Lynn O’Shaughnessy, Editor for moneywatch, “Only about 2 percent of high school athletes win sports scholarships every year at NCAA colleges and universities.” Lynn O’Shaughnessy also said, “ For those who do snag one, the average scholarship is less than $11,000.” Some athletes are not even on scholarship for their sport, they just happened to make it on the team. 

With all of these myths about college athletes debunked I am curious about what new myths will be brought out. College Athletes have been accused of weird stereotypes and myths because other students were not good at sports. College Athletes deserve better.

Work cited

“5 common misconceptions about college athletes.” Theodysseyonline, Caitlin Orgera, Jan 24, 2017, https://www.theodysseyonline.com/5-common-misconceptions-college-athletes

“Student-Athlete Myths Debunked.” Huffpost, Julia Smagacz, August 13, 2016, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/student-athlete-myths-debunked_us_57d80c7ee4b0a5cd12d740b2

“Top 10 Smartest Athletes in Professional Sports.” Mensjournal.com, Dan Israeli, https://www.mensjournal.com/sports/top-10-smartest-athletes-in-professional-sports/