Not to generalize or anything, but eighth graders are dumb. They throw food steal stuff and are generally incapable of making any decision more important than what kind of microwaveable meal they want for dinner.
So maybe we should stop offering them college scholarships?
On Thursday, Nick Saban and Alabama offered a full ride to Jesus Machado, an eighth-grader from Hialeah (Florida) Champagnat Catholic School, according to ESPN. Here’s what Machado looks like:
Alabama Offers 8th Grade Linebacker Jesus Machado From Florida | Youth1 https://t.co/w8SdyMxj5Z #RollTide #Bama pic.twitter.com/TgdohcMmEv
— 𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐬 (@AlPopsFootball) May 18, 2016
Does that look like a college football player or a kid who should still be working on his spitballs?
Now, eighth-graders with college offers aren’t totally unheard of — current five-star linebacker Dylan Moses got his first offer before high school — but they’re awfully rare, especially coming from a school of Alabama’s stature.
Typically you like to see players gain agency over their futures, but at some point the offers become exploitative. So much can go wrong to a player who accepts an offer that early. He can get injured or fall off his trajectory and see the offer disappear, he can have a change of heart and be labeled a pariah for reneging on a decision he made before he learned to drive, he can feel compelled to stick with his commitment and end up at a place that doesn’t suit him. No one really benefits from this process beginning so early.
According to ESPN, Machado also has verbal offers from Iowa State, Michigan State, NC State and West Virginia, so he’s likely already feeling some pressure to narrow down his list. In eighth grade. What could go wrong?
[ESPN]
