Tony Miller, Jr.

Immersion Reflection Paper

Dr. Wilson

A Day in Their Shoes

College athletes are often faced with many stereotypes and stigmas. Many athletes are
viewed to be dumb jocks or lazy students. This is not fair to these athletes, however, the
stigma is even worse for African American athletes since many African American athletes make
the population of African Americans in college, especially males. The life of student athletes are
probably only understood by other student athletes. The struggle that student athletes face have
been making more and more headlines as the years go on.
One of the biggest concerns for student athletes now are college football players creating
unions and the discussion of student athletes getting paid to play since they bring in so much
money. Some may argue that players need to be treated like regular employees because their
labor. Others will argue that these students just need to have insurance plans to protect them if
they are injured in a game or in practice so they do not have to pay for their own injuries while
playing for the university.
The most recent news regarding the aforementioned items is on Monday, April 14, 2014,
the NCAA passed a rule that would allow all student athletes to have unlimited meals and
snacks. Many believe this happened because of the uproar about student athletes complaining
about going to bed hungry and other things. Another major story in the news was about the
Northwestern University football getting approved to unionize. So many stories have been
circulating and eventually there will be a resolution to this problem.
My curiosity about football players or student athletes college experience in general
sparked my reasoning for doing this immersion project along with other personal reasons
discussed in later paragraphs. Playing college athletics seemed to always be the topic of
discussion for my friends and me. It was almost expected that you play college sports, no matter
what the sport is.

Tony Miller, Jr.

Immersion Reflection Paper
Dr. Wilson

When I was in high school I always envisioned myself playing college football or
baseball. Once my college career ended I expected to play professionally. Those goals were
never achieved, and simply because of stubbornness and pride. I did however play collegiate
racquetball in which I played against some of the best college teams in the nation and won a
couple of championships in my own right.
Having said that, I always thought college athletes were living a dream and had
everything served to them on a silver platter. These guys were playing the sport they loved in
college and getting a free education. It was not until I became friends with different athletes on
campus did I learn everything was not what it seemed. I attended a small Division II university in
Georgia, but I did not learn the exact college experience of a college athlete until I came to the
University of Memphis.
I was afforded the opportunity to work with the Center of Athletic Academic Services
(CAAS) last semester. My eyes were really opened to what college football players went through
and how their academic experience differed from other traditional students. Although I did not
work with these students the entire spring semester as I did in the fall as their academic mentor I
was still able to immerse myself with their lifestyle and experience.
However, at the beginning of the semester, we would all wake up and have to be at
CAAS at 7:30 in the morning on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday we
had to be at CAAS by 8:30 am. All of the freshman football players on scholarship are required
to go study hall every day of the week and also on Sundays evenings. The name of the study hall
groups are called Breakfast Club and Dinner Club. The upperclassmen attended Dinner
Club if they were on the brink of academic eligibility. All other players were just required to do
a certain amount of hours a week to make sure they stayed on track. Each player was assigned
mentors and I had 4 football players. As their mentors, we made sure they completed all of their

Tony Miller, Jr.

Immersion Reflection Paper
Dr. Wilson

work and tracked their grades throughout the semester. Although I did stop working directly
with CAAS and the football players at the end of January, my immersion with these students
continued.
As I was preparing to step down from the mentoring position I held, I wanted to help
these student athletes experience a little of the traditional college student experience. I
developed the idea to create an intramural basketball team for the freshmen football players I
worked with. The sole purpose of me doing this was to help get them away from just their norm
of football and classwork lifestyle. I wanted them to have something else to look forward to
during the day. The season was fun and I learned so much more about these guys as people. Our
regular season record was 3-1 and we lost in the first round of the playoffs to the number one
seed. I was able to see them outside of their football mindset and be free to have fun. One of the
biggest things I learned about these guys were how much the loved each other and how close
they were to one another. They always have each others back no matter what is going on.
I watched a very interesting documentary on Netflix entitled Schooled: The Price of
College Sports. This documentary explored how the National College Athletic Association
(NCAA) are exploiting college football players and how the players do not get what they
deserve. The documentary interviewed current National Football League (NFL) players who
played major college football. They described nights when they would hungry and would not
have any food in their rooms. They also talked to current college football players who were
facing the same problem. These students not only bring money into the school and the NCAA,
but they also help enrollment numbers for the universities they attend. None of these players get
to reap the benefits of their own success. This is an issue I was unaware of. The NCAA
personnel try to justify the players free education as a way to suffice for the amount of money
these students bring in. Many college athletes bring in money by the selling of their jerseys, but

Tony Miller, Jr.

Immersion Reflection Paper
Dr. Wilson

never see the money. College athletes are also featured on video games and receive no revenue
from game sales, but also none of these students are asked for permission to even be featured
these video games.
After watching this documentary, I wondered if the Memphis football players were
experiencing the same kinds of issues. Many of the players held conversations with me about
what their daily life consisted of, but one wide receiver took me through the entire process from
the time he was being recruited in high school until now.
He told me coaches would sit in his living room and told him and his parents that he
would be able to play early as a freshman. He said hearing news like that would make any kid
want to come to that school and play for them. However, once you reach campus the story
changed. He was red-shirted this year and never touched the field. He told me about all the
stipulations the players had and how they never had time for themselves. He told me he felt like
he was tricked into coming to this school to play football. I also learned that players who are
considered preferred walk-ons do not even receive the benefits that scholarship players
receive. They pay for their housing, meals, books, and anything else a traditional student would
be responsible for, but they attend practice, meetings, and all other team activities. Some of
these players even start on Saturdays but still do not reap the same benefits as scholarship
players.
This student even stated he could not even choose the major of his choice because he was
told it would conflict with his football schedule. Statistics have shown a very low percentage of
college athletes go onto to play at the professional level. The notion of college athletes not being
prepared to go out and get a real job is another stereotype these players face. The degrees that
are pursued by most of these players are looked at as easy majors or useless degrees. While

Tony Miller, Jr.

Immersion Reflection Paper
Dr. Wilson

working with these students and talking with them I realized the biggest goal of these coaches
and even universities are to make sure the players stay eligible to play on game day.
In light of everything we do not see in college football players lives, we do get to see
them on the field. One of my last experiences during this immersion project was the Memphis
Tigers Spring Football Game April 11, 2014. This is actually the fun part for all the football
players. Game days are typically all the fans see and all we know. I brought my two high school
mentees along with me to enjoy the football game and also allow me to see them in their element
on the football field. I was able to see all the freshmen football players I worked with get a
chance to play and be happy.
After the game was over, the fans were allowed to go onto the field and get pictures and
autographs with the players. I went to all the football players I knew and asked if they would
take a picture with my two mentees and they were very happy to do so. After the night was over
and I thanked the players for taking pictures with my mentees, two of the players texted me to
thank me for coming to support them.
One of the biggest lessons I learned during this immersion project while talking and
studying these players was they wanted to be treated like regular students. They want to be able
to enjoy their college life just like traditional students are allowed to do so. They do not want to
always be viewed as student athletes. I also learned their lives are not as easy as I assumed
they would be. After working with these students so closely and being able to read different
articles and having watched the documentary on college sports, it really opened my eyes on how
different my college experience was compared to college athletes.
One of the biggest reasons I chose to study these individuals is because I always wanted
to be one myself when I was growing up. I made the decision not to be one because of
stubbornness and other things. This project has taught me to respect college athletes more and
has also gave me insight which can help me as I progress as a Student Affairs profession. I really

Tony Miller, Jr.

Immersion Reflection Paper
Dr. Wilson

think since I met the players as students and never really saw them from the football player point
of view like everyone else does, it showed me that they really want to be normal, but keep their
perks at the same time.