National Signing Day 2021 was one for the HBCU record books…
ESPN #1 CB Travis Hunter shocked the College Football world this week by committing to Jackson State University. Deion Sanders topped off an incredible 2021-2022 football season by arguably landing the first 5-star recruit in FCS history, and pretty much breaking the PWI Twitterverse in the process. While the signing of Travis Hunter was a game-changer, it was the response to it that has people buzzing. For better or worse, the landscape of college football recruiting has changed in a very dramatic way. Mr. Hunter himself was pretty clear about what the moment meant to him. check out his announcement:
Make no mistake, this is a win for HBCU football. Heck, it’s a win for HBCU athletics in general. That being said, there was definitely an ‘undertone’ of angst over this extraordinary young man’s decision all over social media. Frankly, a LOT of these folks were mad. Not mad in like “oh, he went to a rival school” sense; These folks were MAD mad, like “Why are you going to an HBCU when you got bagmen at my school?” kind of mad. It was amazing to see the intensity and vitriol that came with this collective meltdown. From FSU fans starting a twitter space titled, “Fire Mike Norvell” that reached over 7,000 listeners in the hours after the announcement, to horribly bad takes on HBCU football in general from select mainstream sports media platforms, the ‘displeasure’ of a 5-star recruit bucking the status quo and signing with JSU was…telling.
It’s hard not to chuckle (as an HBCU product, fan, and advocate) at the level of faux outrage that folks within the power 5 football world engaged in on the internet over a SINGLE RECRUIT choosing the HBCU way. It’s not surprising, though. Twitter and other social media platforms are littered with all sorts of fan hate directed towards athletes. Wednesday’s outpouring was a bit different; It was a kid that could’ve gone to pretty much any football program he wanted, choosing to bet on himself…and his heart. Having arguably the best cornerback in the history of the game making the pitch to change that paradigm didn’t hurt any, but the reaction to this recruitment says an awful lot about how far we still have to go when it comes to OUR schools and athletic programs in terms of perception and respect. One of the more vocal participants in this haterfest was Fox Sports’ own Doug Gottlieb.
Rather than wasting valuable time and keystrokes on Doug’s ‘take’ on Hunter’s decision, let’s hear it from the horse’s mouth:
It’s absolutely hilarious listening to a guy pontificate on how a single kid’s decision to actually BE a trailblazer for other potential athletes considering their options. As I listened to this 10 minute diatribe of nothingness, a couple of things immediately come to mind:
1) Doug Gottlieb pointing out that he didn’t create the “financial disparities” that exist between P5 schools and HBCU’s isn’t the flex he thinks it is. Actually TALKING about the WHY behind such disparities would’ve probably kept the black twitterverse from frying him more than they did, but I doubt it.
2) Saying that while simultaneously lowkey trashing a kid’s decision to BE someplace where he’s loved and appreciated, is the epitome of the kind of mindset many of these kids have to actually deal with during the recruiting process and beyond.
It’s the type of foolishness that guidance counselors tell talented black and brown students when they seriously start considering HBCU’s during the home stretch of their high school lives. The same thing happens in big time college recruiting. The Doug Gottliebs’ of the world not only think that an athlete of Travis hunter’s caliber shouldn’t consider an HBCU like Jackson State, but that it’s somehow beneath them to even THINK about it. It’s an absurdly amazing kind of disconnect some of these folks experience when it comes to what HBCUs are as it relates to the fabric of this country. I don’t expect Doug Gottlieb to be an HBCU afficianado, but I DO expect Doug Gottlieb to be better than hiding behind tired tropes about what HBCU’s don’t have without actually providing CONTEXT as to why that is.
At any rate, national signing day 2021 was a monumental success for HBCU football. It was also a warning; Kids are starting to see these athletic opportunities through a broader lens than many would like. The narrative that involves shunning HBCU athletics in the quest to reach professional status as an athlete is going the way of the dodo. The advent of NIL deals for athletes will start to level the playing field in ways that we’ve yet to see, but the appeal of being an athlete and going to an HBCU and having the NIL at your disposal might just flip that narrative in ways that people associated with big time college athletics might find ‘uncomfortable’.
As a proud HBCU product and advocate, I’m here for all the positive smoke that comes with that paradigm shift.
#HBCUDigital
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