Pat McAfee’s latest viral rant has a tangential connection to the Wisconsin Badgers.
The speech was in support of walk-ons – a key pillar in the founding of the Wisconsin football program.
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The timing is relevant because recent lawsuits and industry conversations point to college football moving to a revenue-sharing model with its athletes. This, in essence, would create a pseudo-professional sporting entity with all players under contract.
One side effect of this inevitable change is the elimination of the concept of a college student joining the football team as a walk-on. This does not mean that the current model is sustainable in the future, but it is worth recognizing the secondary effects that the long-term future may have.
If so, that effect should be clear to Badgers fans: The storied careers of legends, including Jim Leonhard, would not be possible.
The game will apparently continue and succeed without any problems. But anyone in or around a program like Wisconsin understands the impact of a strong attendance culture and what those players can sometimes bring to the team.
That was the basis of McAfee’s extensive rant on Friday.
“The fact that there is this idea that we need to eliminate visitors from big-time college football is so stupid,” McAfee said. “And it also makes me believe that a lot of the people making these decisions don’t know the ball.”
Here are his full thoughts, which I’m sure Wisconsin fans will mostly agree with:
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