I do not have a Lou Somogyi-like knowledge of ND football, nor can I relate old stories of the "good days" like OIdbender used to. Still, I've been around a long time - first game in person was 1972, but remember crying when USC won in 1964...Dad and Grandpa were crying too. So, having seen a lot of football history, the Styles-to-the-portal thing just made me snap.
QUICK history of the Canadian Football League, of which I am a Somogyi/Oldbender savant. American players started coming up to play in the CFL in the late 1930's and by the 50's, they were coming up in droves, and the CFL was outbidding the NFL for players (Johnny Bright from Drake, Heisman Trophy winner Billy Vessels from Oklahoma). Lots of Domers made their way to Canada. and many stayed. Names like Bronko Nagurski, Angelo Mosca and Joe Theismann were stars in the CFL, and by-and-large stayed with the same teams as long as hey were here...in fact the league passed a rule labeling American players as Canadian if they played for the same team in Canada for more than five years (only so many American players are allowed on a roster). Unfortunately for the CFL, the NFL became the monster it is, and we are no longer able to compete...so we sign players that fit our game and it's as, or more entertaining, than the NFL.
Here's where my warning comes in: So many players wanted to be able to get out of contracts quickly and easily in case an NFL opp came along that more and more, CFL players are signing one-year contracts with no option year...and staying with one team for a year at a time, and then signing with someone else next year...NOW, you DO need a scorecard to recognize your own team because free agency is so endemic to the business. THIS is what is happening with college football now. There is no stability to rosters and inevitably, all the best players will end up with the schools that are nothing more than AAA-franchises for the NFL. What has happened up here is that people are losing interest in the league, a league that is older than the NFL by 20 years. Fans no longer have a cheering interest for the best players because, this year they play for you, next year against you. My Hamilton Tiger-Cats lost over a dozen players from last year, signing an equal number in free agency, and most of them are signed for one year...I bought season's tickets this year because the Grey Cup is in Hamilton, but this will be the last year...and my family has had them since 1944.
Styles will end up at tOSU or 'Bama or USC, where he can make the most money and I wouldn't bet against him transferring again as a grad student for an even bigger NIL package. Meantime, all of the discussion about who else is entering the portal just adds to this sense that players are not representing their school/the old alma mater, but simply looking for a place to earn the most money they can in the shortest amount of time they can...this is no longer the sport I grew up loving and following for 60 years...it's minor-pro, divorced of the educational component, and of little interest anymore.
As for Notre Dame fans, yes, the administration is shockingly lacking in ambition for Our Lady's university...geez, they'll be happy being a Top-25 American and Top-200 global institute of higher education...guess that's gonna have to do 'cause these guys will NEVER become minor-league franchises for the NFL.
QUICK history of the Canadian Football League, of which I am a Somogyi/Oldbender savant. American players started coming up to play in the CFL in the late 1930's and by the 50's, they were coming up in droves, and the CFL was outbidding the NFL for players (Johnny Bright from Drake, Heisman Trophy winner Billy Vessels from Oklahoma). Lots of Domers made their way to Canada. and many stayed. Names like Bronko Nagurski, Angelo Mosca and Joe Theismann were stars in the CFL, and by-and-large stayed with the same teams as long as hey were here...in fact the league passed a rule labeling American players as Canadian if they played for the same team in Canada for more than five years (only so many American players are allowed on a roster). Unfortunately for the CFL, the NFL became the monster it is, and we are no longer able to compete...so we sign players that fit our game and it's as, or more entertaining, than the NFL.
Here's where my warning comes in: So many players wanted to be able to get out of contracts quickly and easily in case an NFL opp came along that more and more, CFL players are signing one-year contracts with no option year...and staying with one team for a year at a time, and then signing with someone else next year...NOW, you DO need a scorecard to recognize your own team because free agency is so endemic to the business. THIS is what is happening with college football now. There is no stability to rosters and inevitably, all the best players will end up with the schools that are nothing more than AAA-franchises for the NFL. What has happened up here is that people are losing interest in the league, a league that is older than the NFL by 20 years. Fans no longer have a cheering interest for the best players because, this year they play for you, next year against you. My Hamilton Tiger-Cats lost over a dozen players from last year, signing an equal number in free agency, and most of them are signed for one year...I bought season's tickets this year because the Grey Cup is in Hamilton, but this will be the last year...and my family has had them since 1944.
Styles will end up at tOSU or 'Bama or USC, where he can make the most money and I wouldn't bet against him transferring again as a grad student for an even bigger NIL package. Meantime, all of the discussion about who else is entering the portal just adds to this sense that players are not representing their school/the old alma mater, but simply looking for a place to earn the most money they can in the shortest amount of time they can...this is no longer the sport I grew up loving and following for 60 years...it's minor-pro, divorced of the educational component, and of little interest anymore.
As for Notre Dame fans, yes, the administration is shockingly lacking in ambition for Our Lady's university...geez, they'll be happy being a Top-25 American and Top-200 global institute of higher education...guess that's gonna have to do 'cause these guys will NEVER become minor-league franchises for the NFL.
