Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-1997

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

Patricia A. Beitel

Committee Members

Joy DeSensi, Eric Haley, Craig Wrisberg

Abstract

Every year there has been an increase in the number of athletes in high school and college that are coming out early to make a living in professional sport. In some sports like baseball, basketball, and hockey, athletes are getting drafted right out of high school to play professional sport. The lure and the temptation of big contracts have played a major impact in some of the athletes' decisions in the past. For years football set itself apart from the rest of the professional leagues" in not enticing athletes into the pro game. Professional football not only discouraged young athletes from entering the draft, but set up rules and agreements with the NCAA to reinforce the importance of the athlete spending four or five years in college to mature. However, in 1989 Barry Sanders petitioned the NFL, to allow him to enter his name in the draft because of "hardship" reasons. The NFL granted his request thus opening the doors for others to follow in Sanders' path. In 1990 the NFL agreed to allow all juniors to petition their right to enter the NFL. draft due to legal proceedings that could have been costly to the NFL. Since the inception of the early entry petition 271 juniors have declared themselves eligible for the draft yet only 170 have been selected, thus creating an uncertainty in the mind of potential petitioners whether to stay in college or to try and leave early. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the factors that affect intercollegiate football player's. decisions to enter the professional draft or to stay in school, Eight collegiate student- athletes were interviewed for this study based on their decision to leave early or to stay Four participants decided to leave carly and four participants decided to stay in college and finish their degree. The results of the information from the transcripts suggest there were many factors that contributed to each athlete's decision. Confidence, relationships, pressure, and fear were the four themes that emerged from the transcripts which related to decision making. Each theme was discussed in terms of the factors that contributed to its strength. The ability to draw upon past experiences in life and make important decisions with self-assurance emerged within the confidence theme Associated with the themes of relationships and pressure, were some participants' desires for wanting a professional sport career and the opportunities it could provide. The athletes who stayed in college believed getting an education was more important to them and to their families. The four participants who stayed agreed that receiving a degree would be more important to them in the future, and that the NFL could wait one more year. In the theme concerning fear, losing money and marketability due to injury was a concern for the participants who left early. And for those participants who stayed, wanting to remain and finish something they had started was more important than an NFL. career. All participants believed maturity was a valuable factor in deciding whether to enter the professional draft or to stay in college. However, each participant made their decision without outside influences, claimed ownership to their decision, and made their decision without regret. Implications for future research, athletes, support persons, and sport- related personnel are provided .

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