AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2006 > May > 22 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USParents stepping over the line
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Item: The family of Reggie Bush, the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner, allegedly lived in a house for which they paid no rent. Bush’s stepfather, it is further alleged, was in cahoots with the home’s owner to start a sports agency with his son as the star client.
Item: Jimmy Clausen, a high school JUNIOR, decides that he will tell the world that when the time comes he will sign at the University of Notre Dame. Clausen did not make the announcement in his native California. He and 15 members of his family were loaded into a stretch Hummer and pulled up to the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., where cameras and microphones were atwitter. An L.A. public relations firm handled the press conference.
Item: Josh Portis, a freshman who backed up an All-SEC quarterback at Florida last season, decides to transfer to Maryland. As they head out of town his mother, Patricia Portis, told the Gainesville Sun: “The bottom line is the (the coaches) won’t let his talent be shown on the field. He needs to be at an institution where all of his talents can be taken care of.”
What do these three incidents have in common? In all cases parents of talented athletes have ceased to act like parents and have started acting like agents.
Coaches will tell you that one of the biggest changes to college football in a generation is the advent of parents who see their son not as someone to be loved and nurtured and supported through the college experience. More and more they see the child as a huge financial investment and their ticket to the good life. And when the coach or the school won’t get with the plan it’s time to pull up stakes and go somewhere else.
Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with using college football as a stepping-stone to get to the NFL. If a guy is blessed with a lot of talent then by all means he should use the opportunity of college football to make his dream come true. That kind of idealism is the province—and the right—of the young and gifted.
But the parent has to know better. The parent has to know that reaching the NFL is the longest of long shots. The parent has to temper the child’s idealism and remind him to take advantage of the opportunity that is right in front of them. The parent can’t afford to get caught up in the dreams of big houses, limos, and fancy cars.
In other words, a parent has to act like a parent. A parent has to live in the real world and not in the one where teenage children give press conferences.
Comments
By fan
May 22, 2006 04:38 PM | Link to this
Well said Tony. A few major schools were not interested in dealing with Clausen III, after the problems his parents caused at UT & LSU. We’ll see what happens at Notre Dame in 2007. I doubt he will win 4 national championships as he said in his press conference.
By Ladydawg
May 22, 2006 05:13 PM | Link to this
I realize that every parent thinks their child is the most special, wonderful person ever to inhabit the earth but I agree the trend of parents pimping their athletic children is ridiculous.
By Jim Osterman
May 22, 2006 05:21 PM | Link to this
It just gets worse and worse. Like a virus that spreads with no cure in sight. And there are so many places to point the finger — the kids, the parents, the recuiters, eson, abc, agents….I’m just waiting for some peewee t-ball kid to start referring to himself in the 3d person.
By northwestDawg
May 22, 2006 06:07 PM | Link to this
Tony. here in Seattle at the U-dub(University of Washington) the basketball coach decided not to have 2 brothers because their father was trying to tell the coach how to do things. Even though there was a lot of pressure on him (coach) he said NO!. the coach is Lorenzo Romar who’s building a class act program for his school. He won’t put up with parents who act the way you’re discribing.
By Troupe
May 23, 2006 01:00 PM | Link to this
Parents are the children’s biological agents. Should they really allow the kids to make the decisions all by themselves without any input? I can understand them staying out of the media, but it is not rediculous for parents to act like agents for their children, for if not them someone eles will help them make decisions.
By trentgaines
May 23, 2006 01:47 PM | Link to this
Where can I get a list of the history/scores of every Georgia Tech/Georgia game?
By Ft Worth Dawg
May 23, 2006 05:44 PM | Link to this
Well, at least the parents of Tech athletes will never demonstrate such outlandish behavior.
By Matthew Allen
May 23, 2006 11:56 PM | Link to this
Tony hits the nail on the head…again. Come on, let’s be honest. Will these kids ever learn to be responsible adults when their parents refuse to surrender control? If Portis’ mother is upset, then she is an idiot; what coach would bench his All-everything QB in favor of an unproven frosh? And Clausen…his parents encourage his asonine behavior by driving to the COLLGE HALL OF FAME? Hell, he hasn’t even made the California High School Hall of Fame…what makes him think that anyone gives a rip about his charade in South Bend? If he is anything like his two older brothers, he’ll be mediocre at best.
Make no mistake, this kind of crap happens all over. Look at John Parker Wilson at Alabama. It doesn’t make many headlines, but his parents think he is the second coming. The kid isn’t that great, but vocal parents got him plenty of attention in high school.
Even D.J. Shockley had some of this issue with his dad, who wanted him to transfer due to lack of playing time. Again, no sane coach would bench Greene unless he really screwed up. I’m just glad D.J. made his OWN decision to stay at UGA and wait his turn.
There are so many things that are happening in our nation that are bringing about its demise. When parents uplift their children, allowing them to think they have reached demi-God status, that is a prime example of what is wrong in the United States.
Thank you, Tony, for using your public soapbox to opine on such a disregarded subject.
By gdawginkalamazoo
May 24, 2006 03:01 PM | Link to this
Nice topic Tony. I don’t recall seeing Matt Stafford or Tim Tebow’s parents having press conferences at the CFHOF. Clausen is a Clausen, he has already started talking smack about Brady Quinn and his abilitites. Can’t see a positive locker room in South Bend next year. It will be funny. We had all hoped that Clausen would have ended up as a VOL so that we had four more years to pound a Clausen into relish. I forget, where to the older Clausens play football now?