This is a twist for the National Football League. The league that enjoys pumping itself up actually has put out a video in which it plays itself down. Don`t look for the tape at your video store. It can only be found in the locker rooms of college football teams.
At the behest of college coaches, the NFL has produced a 12-minute video begging, pleading, imploring underclassmen to stay in school and not come out for the draft, where teams will be forced to pick them.
The high-quality video paints a bleak picture for college players who dream of the NFL.
”There is the dream,” the narrator says over dramatic music. ”But there is also the reality.”
The film cuts to interviews with NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders, Lions coach Wayne Fontes, Texas coach John Mackovic and Redskins Joe Gibbs, among others. It throws out statistics: For every 50,000 college football players, only 150 make it as rookies. Scary stuff, indeed.
”When I talk to college players, I tell them the best thing they can do is stay in college,” Tagliabue said.
That notion is seconded by former Northwestern wide receiver Richard Buchanan, who came out early after the 1990 season and wasn`t drafted.
”My advice is to wait another year,” said Buchanan, who obviously learned the hard way.
