With college and pro athletes and how their services and likenesses are used by schools to make millions of dollars without compensating them a penny, stories like Jacksonville Jaguars safety Jalen Ramseys will make the media mill more often.
Ramsey asked Texas A&M assistant Tim Brewster to stop using his image to tout the success of new Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher at getting defensive backs drafted.
Tim Brewster on Twitter
DB Alert Nothing but real #FactsComeGetSomeTruth!!
According to Bleacher Report, Brewster posted the picture Monday night on Twitter, and Ramsey, one of a trailer load of former Florida State stars, quickly responded with a Tweet of his own, blasting Brewsters claim as pure embellishment to sway recruits.
Jalen Ramsey on Twitter
@TimBrewster Know I have nothing but respect for you Coach Brew but don’t use me on a poster for a school I didn’t go to & for a coach who didn’t teach me how to be a DB.
Ramsey, a 2017 Pro Bowl selection, said that Fisher “didn’t teach me not one DB technique.”
Ramsey wasn’t having it and his response was indicative of a changing climate within college sports where players are becoming more educated, outspoken and intolerant of being used so that the university can recruit and make millions off of them without giving them anything more than an education with no guarantees. The old way is not going to work anymore.
Ramsey is basically telling Texas A&M that they may have hired his former FSU coach as head dawg, but hes not co-signing the greatness of anyone except himself. Ramseys comment also opens up a Pandoras box about how much these coaches actually teach the players and how much credit they deserve for player and human development.
Top schools often get the best players because they are the schools that ESPN and other major cable networks and TV affiliates throw millions at in order to show their games. And the kids that go there, many from underserved communities and conditions, are looking for the best pro pipe dream. It has been long argued that the legendary coaches who are the faces of these schools and capitalize the most on the success of their players are given way too much credit for simply recruiting the best athletes.
