USD Football 1995

COLLEGE f OOTBAll, 2000 AND BEYOND CONTIN UED million dollars per player was dirt cheap; $5 million would be more like it. The NFL got the last laugh, however, when it promptly founded the coach quipped at the annual CAA football convention. "And while we're at it, why not get rid of helmets, too?" Several college presidents did not view the question as rhetorical. 1 ot

As Marshall trots o nto the field, he looks like a typical cornerback from the 1990s: tall, muscular, low body fat and a fluid motion that indicates the capabili- ty of blinding speed. Yet something doesn't seem right. It's his helmet. There's no face mask. Here again, the NFL was the impetu for change. In 2015, when the NFL approved the unyielding and unforgiv- ing Kevlar for shoulder pads and hel- mets, college presidents reacted (some said overreacted) by insisting that the NCAA eliminate through legislation all traces of the wanton play that the 1 FL had either encouraged or condoned, depending on your perspective. "Let's get rid of face masks," a head

Countrywide Football League, or CFL, for promising 18- to 24-year old players who didn't want to attend college, and based many of the CFL's teams in col- lege towns, thereby disrupting long- standing football monopolies. On the other hand, college football became a true student-athlete endeavor. No coach ever tried to coax Bill McDowell into changing his class schedule. "At strong-side cornerback and wide receiver, we have three-yearstarter and two- time All-American Albert Marshall, a mathe- ics major.

entirely in jest, they suggested that the players grow their hair long, just as the football trailblazers of the 1800s did. With such tenuous protectio n, the presidents reasoned, mode rn-clay players would undoubtedly rein in their recklessness. The coaches collec- tively blanched. In comparison, get- ting rid of face masks seemed liked a reasonable idea.

Thusly disarmed, defensive players lost a chunk of their nerve. The number of broken noses went up, but head and CONTINUED In arare moment of unanimity, (thecollege football communitytold the NFL that it would have to begin paying colleges for running what was essentially afarm system.