They have watched people get away with crime all their life. In an urban environment, criminals are protected from scrutiny. Think of it as like the Mafia. No one wants to snitch.
The players think it works the same way for them except they lost the anonymity and protection of the street. You can fight dogs in the hood and get away with it. You can smoke weed and bust up your woman. But in a lily white college environment, that won’t play.
But it HAS been playing. They HAVE been protected by those in “The Program”. What will be interesting to watch is if suddenly, “The Program” spits out the thugs.
Right now they have the protection, its gone from the protection of the street to the protection of “The Program”. If that goes away in large part, whoa nelly, this game just changed.
Are you listening, Notre Dame??
Football is nothing more than modern gladiator sports. Majority of the players couldn’t get a job at McDonalds and if not for football wouldn’t be anywhere near a college. Start enforcing an actual academic standing for one, that might help.
Do away with signing days and other stuff. Make these kids pick colleges like anyone else does and show up ready to pay for it yourself. Try out for team, if you make it and are a star, then you get your scholarship.