A Gentleman and a Scholar

The term student-athlete is far different today than yesteryear, when a scholarship that paid for your education was something extraordinary.

High school kids today still are the beneficiaries of the grant-in-aid system that went into effect in 1956. However, attitudes have become skewed, and today, kids negotiate agreements that make them the highest paid people on campus, some getting millions of dollars – before they enroll. This started in 2021, with NIL (name, image and likeness) court rulings.

Just a few years ago, kids could lose their eligibility for simply selling their jersey to a third party. Recruiters could get cited for simply giving a kid a ride home from football practice or allowing him to pull up a chair for a family meal. One case that brought great public contempt directed at the NCAA was when it disallowed a school to pay the expenses of a student-athlete to go to the funeral of a teammate.

There are many athletes who value a degree in the tradition of the past. They are diligent regarding their course of study and making satisfactory progress toward a degree. You just do not hear about them very often.

Photo credit: Herbert Aust

Some persevere until a cap and gown becomes part of their campus history. Herschel Walker, Georgia’s elite running back who led the Bulldogs to the national championship as a freshman in 1980, was graduated from UGA last winter. He promised his mother he would someday graduate from college.

That it came about is a tribute to his commitment and perseverance. He was not the first. Superstars Shaquille O’Neal (LSU) and Joe Namath (Alabama) went back to school years after beginning their professional careers and completed degree requirements.

Anybody who is familiar with the career of Brock Bowers, who earned two national championship rings as a tight end at Georgia and is now playing for the Las Vegas Raiders, is aware that he is one of the most gifted receivers to have played college football.

When he entered the National Football League draft, he was one semester shy of a degree. When he signed his contract with the Raiders, he requested a clause that he would be able to return to campus his first off season and become a college graduate.

The Raiders knew that he would take the time when he was not in class to adhere to a strict off-season workout protocol to be in peak condition when he rejoined the team this past summer. He was ready for his second year in the NFL, and he had a sheepskin to hang on his wall to go with other citations that included:

• three-time All-America honors
• two-time winner of the John Mackey award as the best tight end in the country
• All-NFL and All-Pro
• Pro Bowl.

That degree will get as much appreciation in his trophy room as the other citations. An unassuming and modest athlete, Bowers capitalized on his NIL opportunities as he was entitled to, but he shared his largesse with his teammates.

Talk about a good teammate; Bowers is the ultimate. He is an altruistic person who has no reluctance to put the team first. In college, he did not understand why he got all the attention. He deflected all tribute to UGA and his teammates.

He enjoyed walking UGA’s tree-lined campus with his classmates. Bowers was as disciplined as a student as he was an athlete. He didn’t cut class when he felt poorly, for example. He was diligent with homework and class assignments and enjoyed the campus experience the old-fashioned way – just being a college student.

Elementary, yes, and as the old saying goes, you do not get rave reviews for making up your bed when that should be a basic in daily life. High marks for Bowers are in order, but surely there are more of his type on our campuses today than we hear about.

When he came to Athens on his first official visit, he was taken by the hospitality and laid-back atmosphere of the town and campus. It didn’t hurt that he was imbued with a deep and abiding love of the Great Outdoors and became immediately aware of fishing and hunting opportunities galore.

Only problem is that some of the best opportunities for hooking a trout or taking down dove and quail come when football season is at a peak. Yet, he found those opportunities along with developing a low handicap in golf.

Doomsayers see college athletics as at a crisis, and there is plenty of evidence to confirm those fears are real. That is why it is so refreshing to learn about Bowers. His accomplishments are a reminder that the exemplary student-athletes will also be exemplary alumni.

Loran Smith is a veteran sportswriter and longtime UGA sidelines reporter.