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Greetings from “Can’t Wait For Saturday,” your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He’ll give you his views each day on the game he loves.
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The good people at The Athletic are reporting the NCAA football rules committee is looking into finding an answer for the problem of fake injuries. It is about time.
Some teams have used the very real concern about players being injured to help either slow down offenses or gain an extra timeout.
When done intentionally — and that is tricky to prove — the move violates the very essence of good sportsmanship.
If everyone did as they should and played by the rules, fake injuries would not be an issue. But some are always looking for an advantage. The vague, nature of the injury rules make it an easy target.
One possible fix is to make a player who says he is hurt sit out the rest of the drive. But that might too strong a penalty and convince players to stay in when they actually are injured.
Player safety has to always be a priority. So any changes to the rules must consider first the possible harm that might result.
Thinking outside the box a bit, might a solution be to have the teams sign a fair-play pledge to not fake injuries? With severe penalties — suspensions, loss of access to the College Football Playoff — if there is proof a team does violate the pledge.
Bottom line, all the teams want to win. And will do whatever it takes. But a threat of consequences should deter the win-at-all-cost mantra.
There is also be a need for talks at each school to remind everyone the purpose of college athletics. It is at its base an effort to enhance the experience for the athletes, coaches, students and fans. Doing things the right way shouldn’t be an obligation. It should be a high-minded goal.
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