Summary: Boycott unlikely to gain traction, only hope is young athletes somehow sacrifice their only shot at a payday and catch the activist spirit. One wrinkle is targeting a single school:
“I’d pick Tennessee,” said author Lawrence Ross, who has given lectures on campus racism (based on his book, “Blackballed”) at colleges across the country. Tennessee’s state legislature earlier this month eliminated its lone majority-Black House district, and subsequently stripped committee assignments from some Democratic lawmakers.
The University of Tennessee, Ross reasons, is the “only Power Four school in the state (besides Vanderbilt). They are desperate for the (College Football Playoff). They need Black players from out of state. And they have an irrational fan base.
But MJD is realistic…
Some of those who are down with the NAACP’s cause, such as former NFL All-Pro running back Maurice Jones-Drew, can’t assess it without seeing green.
“I think it’s a great plan,” said Jones-Drew, whose son recently committed to UCLA for football. “If it was Maurice at 41, I would (honor) it. But most people, they’re going to take the most money they can get. And how can you tell a kid that he can’t change his family’s economic trajectory and lifestyle with a signed check?”