The NCAA allows its collegiate sports teams to employ a type of eligibility exemption on its players known as a redshirt, essentially pushing back the eligibility of an athlete by one competitive season. This can be done in instances of major injuries, necessity for player development, and other reasons. It is a very common thing in collegiate sports, and most fans would be able to explain the general idea of the rule. However, a different "shirt" has been employed recently in college football, known as a "grayshirt," that is basically a loophole in the NCAA redshirt procedure that delays a recruits eligibility for an additional competitive season (Crabtree, 2014). Crabtree explains that, "... he signs a letter of intent... doesn't report for fall practices... He delays entry to the school until the spring semester of his freshman year... During that first semester, he can't enroll in college as a full-time student, can't receive his scholarship, can't practice and can't be around the program in any official capacity." This practice is often used when a player is highly regarded by a coach, but a scholarship is not available for the upcoming season, or to separate two players at the same position in their eligibility (Crabtree, 2014). Recruits that accept this designation often will attend their school of choice as a part-time student with no connection to the football team, or will attend preparatory academies that allow them to play football with no penalties to their NCAA eligibility. University of Florida president J. Bernard Machen is amongst those who see this as an unethical practice, stating, "These schools play roulette with the lives of talented young people. If they run out of scholarships, too bad. The letter of intent signed by the university the previous February is voided. Technically, it's legal to do this. Morally, it is reprehensible (Crabtree, 2014)."
This practice, in my opinion, may not be unethical in regards to the recruits, as they are agreeing to participate in the deal. The ethical issue lies within the competitive balance of the NCAA, as the players that are being grayshirted could be accepting offers from other schools that would love to have these players on their roster. Instead, talented players are being hoarded by major programs.
One player that stands out to me that was grayshirted is Ohio State's most recent National Championship winning quarterback, Cardale Jones. Jones was originally recruited in the same class as the #4 quarterback recruit in the nation, Braxton Miller. Jones was asked to attend a prep school for the fall semester, and begin his scholarship in the spring semester the following year. Jones accepted and attended Fork Union Military Academy, joined the Buckeyes the following semester, and the rest is history (Thamel, 2015). Now, Jones finds himself a National Championship winning quarterback stuck in a logjam at Ohio State with his predecessors, JT Barrett and Braxton Miller.
Do you think the practice of "grayshirting" is an ethical issue, either in responsibility to the players or to competition in the NCAA? Should the practice be continued in the NCAA? Do you agree that the competitive balance of the NCAA is negatively impacted by grayshirting? Should players be allowed to back out of commitments to universities if they are asked to gray shirt?
References
Crabtree, J. (2014, February 10). A Gray Area. Retrieved from http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/story?id=10430908
Thamel, P. (2015, January 19). Cardale Jones reflects on his time at military school. Retrieved from http://www.si.com/college-football/2015/01/08/cardale-jones-ohio-state-military-school
Grayshirting is a term that was recently brought to my attention, but I never fully understand all it entailed. After reading this blog, I definitely agree with Joey in that it is not unethical to the recruits since they do agree to go through the process. However, I only stand by this statement if there is a rule that says if a recruit is asked to grayshirt, then they can back out of the commitment if they don't wish to do so. If the recruit is trapped once he signs with a university on signing day, then it is not fair to the recruit.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that this practice affects the competitive balance of NCAA football for the exact example Joey brought up. If grayshirting was not allowed, some other program could have had a chance to sign Cardale Jones (assuming Jones wouldn't have wanted to be in the same signing class to Braxton Miller). But instead, grayshirting allowed Ohio State to have three star quarterbacks on its roster, while there are other schools out there who would kill for one of them.
-Alexx Klein
Grayshirting is something I never really thought about like Alexx. I do not believe that grayshirting is unethical to the players. They are doing what puts themselves in the best possible situation to succeed. They are not doing anything that I would consider bad. The scholarship piece is what stands out to me. For a recruit the only way they will attend the school is if they get the scholarship. If the coaches deem that is not a possible that first semester or year I see why an athlete would want to grayshirt.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Alexx and Joey that it does affect the competitive balance of NCAA football. Instead of having a big time quarterback matchup or position matchup it can be avoided so that player can push his time back to be the star of the team and the NCAA. If the best of the best always competed everyone's skill set would be increasing and the games more than likely would be much better. It is an interesting topic and one I'm sure we will be hearing of much more often.
Courtney Cox
I also agree that this practice of grayshirting is ethical. The summer before my freshman year of college I was at Eastern Illinois working out with the team. That summer I suffered an injury that was going to keep me out for the full next season. Since I was going to miss the whole season, the coaching staff decided that it would be best for me to grayshirt so that way I wouldn’t lose my redshirt status if I needed to use it still. I still attended Eastern Illinois the following fall semester but I had to pay my way as a part-time student.
ReplyDeleteAnother instance that recently came up with grayshirting was with one of our recruits in this past class. He just turned 17 during his senior year of school. He would have been coming into college still as a 17 year old. We thought that it was best for him and his development to grayshirt so that way he would be coming into school with other player of the same age.
I believe that both of these instances make grayshirting a good thing.
I am familiar with “Grey Shirts,” and I have never really looked at it from an ethical standpoint. I guess that I have just accepted that, “this is the way it is.” If a football program wants to grey shirt an incoming athlete after that athlete has signed a contract, then that athlete should have the option to transfer to another school and play right away with no penalty. I think most often, athletes sign to a school with the intent of a grey shirt. This seemingly opens up a great opportunity for incoming freshmen, to delay their eligibility to increase playing time. Furthermore, an athlete can use an extra semester to get the grades that they need to boost GPA or gain eligibility. There would be a major ethical issue if a coach decides to offer a scholarship to an athlete and then not follow through, which may cause an athlete to grey shirt. I have never heard of this happening. Has anyone else seen or heard of this before?
ReplyDeleteIn short, I think that players should be allowed to grey shirt as long as it is within their will to do so.
Matthias E. Reiber
I, as well, believe grayshirting is ethical. The quote from the president at Florida doesn't explain all of the different scenarios that are played our when people use a grayshirt. Yes, there are some programs that use the grayshirt as a crutch to over-sign scholarships. But, there are many programs that use grayshirting to allow kids to come back stronger from a high school injury, allow kids who need academic work to make that up, and allow kids that may be young in their age to develop more.
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, I do believe that kids should be able to back out of a commitment or signing if they were told that they would be on scholarship the first semester and then were asked to grayshirt after signing day. This situation should allow kids to be able to back out with no penalty and find a new home.
Derek Shay