This past week included one of the most exciting times for a college football fan, National Signing Day! This day is the only thing that keeps the ultimate fan breathing during the off-season. Who could blame them? The future fate of a college's success seems as if it lies in the hands of these kids. Coming from a recruiting background, I understand the obsession with tracking of an athlete in hopes that he will sign with your program. At the same time, social media has taken the day to an all new level.
(class rankings after 2014 NSD)
Before the rise of social media, recruiting was kept under the radar with only a few reliable sources available for people to gain access (rivals.com and scout.com). With the increasing release of social media sites, people can now gain information about a player by stalking his Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or any other social site he has presence in. We know the recruits every thought, football related or not, as well as have the opportunity to harass them first hand. This has lead to new rules in recruiting and understandably so; with all the new outlets of communication it makes the recruiting process that much harder to control and keep fair.
(ESPN covered National Signing Day all day both on TV and online)
Football recruits now have to "market" themselves on social media sites in order to please overbearing fan bases; everything is public for fans to see and they definitely take notice. Constant harassment has become common to the top recruits in the nation as signing day approaches each year. Each player is making one of the biggest decisions of his life in deciding where to carry on his football career, yet we make that decision so much harder. This past signing day, top recruit Rashaan Evans picked Alabama over hometown favorite Auburn; fans were furious with his unexpected flip and have been harassing Evans ever since. Don't we think this is getting out of hand? Evans picked the program he felt he should play at and yet instead of being supportive of the player, fans lashed out and have been hateful. However, I do not speak for all fans of a particular program, as many fans do not act in in such a harsh way. Many fans praised Evans for picking the school he wanted and congratulated him; unfortunately the few that have been hateful are the ones making headlines.
(Evans in a recent interview regarding his life post-NSD)
So what is National Signing Day REALLY becoming? Is it "College Football Christmas" or has social media and a few bitter fans made the day a signing recruit's worst nightmare?
Articles on Rashaan Evans if you would like to read more:
Rashaan Evans story shows college football fans have got to leave players alone
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/02/alabama_signee_rashaan_evans_o.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/alabama-commitment-rashaan-evans-says-telling-auburn-restaurants-144118463--ncaaf.html
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ReplyDeleteI've followed recruiting and NSD pretty closely the last few years, and while I'm interested in it, I still think some people take it too far. These are still 17 and 18 year old kids, and they have thousands of people watching their every move during recruiting season. It's become such a spectacle, and a lot of the top recruits come into school with a feeling that they're the best thing ever, because that's what they've been told by coaches and fans for the past few years. If I were a top recruit, I would be tempted to delete my social media accounts during recruitment just to avoid all the hassle and trolls.
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