25 Things To Watch: In Era Of Scandal, Here's What Gives Us Hope
It might not get him any Heisman votes, but Kirk Cousins wins a lot of admirers with his speech.
Nowhere in this space will you read the words "bag man" "bar fight" "Tressel" or "Shapiro."
A moratorium has been called on any reference to prostitutes, strip clubs or (ugh!) summits.
This year, our annual 25 Things To Watch has a mission beyond previewing the season. The usual snarky, obtuse and contemptuous nuggets have been replaced. We are grabbing some disinfectant and scrubbing the game clean.
It's about time. This year it just feels right to be more G-rated. What follows are the feel-good, cuddly stories of college football. Yes, they still exist in what seems like a world of scum.
Hopefully, what follows restores a bit of faith in the game. If not, well, there's always South Beach.
1. Kirk Cousins, the minister of college football In the middle of college athletics' worst run of scandals in a quarter century, Michigan State's quarterback stood up at the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon in late July and preached.
In a stirring seven-minute speech, Cousins spoke of the privilege of playing college football, his love of the Big Ten and how a kid from Iowa will always be part of Spartan Nation.
It was a reminder that most players are more Cousins than Pryor. They still value that scholarship as if it were gold. They don't know the meaning of entitlement, but not because they don't own a dictionary.
"Privilege," Cousins said, "should never lead to entitlement."
God bless you, Kirk. Let's hope there are a lot more like you out there.
