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I have been a college football fan all my life. I have been a professional football fan to a lesser degree. But, to a native Southerner, football at the major college level has always reigned supreme.
As I once informed someone from the frigid North, “There are two major religions in the South: The Southern Baptist Church and major college football. And the Southern Baptists are fortunate that football is played on Saturday and not Sunday.”
From 1869 until the last half of the 20th Century, the South was still in shambles and poverty as a result of the War Between the States, the collapse of an agrarian culture, and the so-called “Reconstruction” that followed. Southern pride had been crushed.
In those early days Yale, Harvard, and Princeton won the most national college football championships and other northern and midwestern teams won their share as well. Finally, in 1908, Louisiana State University was the first Southern college to win a national championship. Georgia Tech was the next in 1917.
Alabama won two in 1925 and 1926 and Georgia Tech won another in 1928. Southerners took notice and pride began to be resurrected.
For those in the South, a Georgia Tech, LSU, or Alabama win was a win for the entire region. At least in this venue, the South was competitive again.
Eventually, the Southern universities became dominant with 16 of the last 18 national champions being from Southern universities (if you count Texas, which was a Confederate state, so, yeah, they count).
Within the South itself, these universities came to represent entire states as in Tennessee vs. Florida or South Carolina vs. North Carolina. Within some states, side were chosen, such as Alabama vs. Auburn or Georgia vs. Georgia Tech.
When Johnson City, Tennessee high school standout and high school All-American quarterback Steve Spurrier opted to play for Florida rather than Tennessee, many considered him a traitor to the homeland. Such is the love and power of major college football in the South.
Alas, that may be changing, and, for me, it has already changed. The current transfer portal system and the NIL have changed college football and will likely ruin it, according to many sports experts.
Last bowl season Florida State dealt with about 30 players opting out of the Orange Bowl against two-time defending champion Georgia. (Why they were allowed to sit on the sidelines, while the other players were trying their best is beyond me).
The Seminoles, led by third-string quarterback Brock Glenn, didn’t stand a chance, losing to the Bulldogs 63-3, the worst loss in FSU history. The selfishness of the 30 players who were more concerned about their careers in the NFL than about their teammates and the university that gave them the opportunity disgusted even die-hard FSU fans.
The situation was repeated in other bowl games and the transfer portal, and the NIL is said to have been a major factor in the retirement of legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban, although Saban denied it.
The fact remains that a player recruited to a major university may leave after that initial season for a better financial offer and could even play for multiple teams in his short career.
Southern fans, who are often rabid in their support for their favorite team, are loyal, and have come to expect loyalty from their players. But, like the pros, the play being called seems to be, “Show me the money.”
To me, the players who have this attitude at the expense of the university and fans are now simply mercenaries with their only loyalty being to the organization that offers the opportunity to make the most money.
These “athletic mercenaries” and their universities have lost my loyalty. During the coming season, I intend to turn my attention to the local high schools and nearby smaller colleges who haven’t gotten caught up in this scheme.
Southerners have long since regained their prosperity and their pride and the absolute need to depend on college athletes to make us feel better about ourselves has long since passed. The University of West Georgia has fielded several good teams. They play Samford in Carrollton on August 31. Go Wolves!
[David Epps is the Rector of the Cathedral of Christ the King (www.ctk.life). Worship services are on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. and on livestream at www.ctk.life. He is the bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-South (www.midsouthdiocese.life). He has been a weekly opinion columnist for The Citizen for over 27 years. He may be contacted at [email protected].]
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