Be selective about athletic scholarships

Every day we read in the paper or hear it on the TV sports shows: another athlete from this college team or that college team has been arrested on charges of drugs or rape or another major crime. Why is it that the NCAA does not enforce its rules about due diligence when recruiting players?

The colleges should be punished for offering scholarships to thugs and criminals. These players are not trying to get a degree. They want to play professional football.

The NCAA should remind the colleges that their objective is education, and we should get back to the fact that the main purpose for college is the education. Colleges should not be the proving grounds for the NFL or the CFL.

I know that millions of dollars are made from the sport, but look at the overall effect it has had on the colleges. (Penn State) Is sport more important than a university?

I remember when college sport was looked upon as a clean wholesome activity and getting a scholarship was because you were a person of high moral being and being looked up to for it.

When a player commits a crime, he should not be able to play again until the situation has been resolved and that person has been exonerated, if not, he is out. No more scholarship; no more sports. End of story.

Let’s give the scholarships to good, deserving people and not the criminals we have been giving them to.

James Schurr Sr.

Lindenhurst