Notre Dame Football has had an interesting year to say the least. The latest story (drama) line has to do with Eddie Vanderdoes who is the nation’s top-rated defensive tackle recruit in 2012-13. Mr. Vanderdoes has changed his mind and will attend UCLA instead of Notre Dame despite signing a letter of intent with the Fighting Irish in February. Why is this a big issue? It has to do with a little piece of paper called the letter of intent, except it’s not so little, it is a binding contract.
According to the NCAA the NLI (National Letter of Intent) is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NLI member institution
- A prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the institution full-time for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters).
- The institution agrees to provide athletics financial aid for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters).
Basic penalty for not fulfilling the NLI agreement: A student-athlete has to serve one year in residence (full-time, two semesters or three quarters) at the next NLI member institution and lose one season of competition in all sports.
At the present time Notre Dame Football has declined to release Mr. Vanderdoes from the letter of intent therefore making him ineligible to play for UCLA Football this year. Many arguments can be made for both sides regarding whether he should or should not be released. Regardless of the arguments, the bottom line is that Mr. Vanderdoes is the athlete that will potentially be learning a few harsh lessons. The lessons: contracts are difficult to break, loyalty still matters, life is not fair.
Mr. Vanderdoes is following the example of many athletes before him who have flip flopped on the college of their choice. This is not surprising behavior as we are dealing with young minds who are being increasingly pressured to choose early. The issue is that Mr. Vanderdoes signed a contract and the majority of adults know that contracts are difficult to get out of. Their may be pressure, you may want to get the hoopla done and over with, but I beg of you (parents are you listening) please don’t sign the contract unless you are absolutely sure. Once you have signed there is no going back.
Loyalty still matters. It may be true that their is a coaching carousel going on with College Football today, but in terms of how the NCAA is writing the rules loyalty must still matter among the student athletes. By instituting a harsh penalty for the breaking of the letter of intent the NCAA is sending a message loud and clear. You need to be loyal to the school of your choice. If you are not loyal there will be a penalty.
Life is not fair. It may not be fair that in the off season Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly entertained ideas of going the NFL and was not punished when he choose to stay at Notre Dame. Guess what, Brian Kelly didn’t break his contract, and Eddie Vanderdoes did. It’s very easy to start the blame game and feel sorry for yourself when these things happen, but you and you alone are ultimately responsible for the decisions you make. Be smart, follow the rules, and don’t expect someone to release you because it’s fair or it’s the right thing to do.
Ultimately Notre Dame will have to decide on whether they will choose to release Mr. Vanderdoes. By signing a letter Mr. Vanderdoes gave up that right to choose and will now be waiting for Notre Dame to decide the path his life will take over the next year. Hopefully other student athletes will take note and learn this important lesson – Don’t Sign Unless You Are 99.5% Sure!!
by Stacey Atkinson
Source: www.ncaa.org, www.espn.com