# Why the eternal mentioning of a pro athlete's college? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 2, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260 "2013-12-02T02:23:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/21 "2013-12-03T02:52:18Z")
I don’t really care much for the NFL or the NBA, but happen to be a rabid fan of a particular university and the majority of their athletes. So even though I’m not a fan, I happen to wish the best for the Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Rams and Los Angeles Clippers, among others. Armed with just that info, many people can identify which college I’m a fan of. So, the fact that they played for my university is the ONLY reason that I might occasionally watch an NFL or NBA game. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/22 "2013-12-03T23:34:52Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Most NFL football fans didn’t go to a major collegiate football powerhouse but many are fans of one or more schools. The fanbase for Notre Dame is way out of proportion to the number of alumni. People in Alabama are either for Bama or Auburn; no one is neutral on the issue. College rivalries are intense and long lasting, more so than nearly all professional rivalries. Large percentages of the country will watch the Army-Navy game even though no one in their immediate families have served. There’s even big identification to football conferences; SEC vs Big Ten, etc. and if your team loses you’ll root loudly for the team that beat you in the conference championship game when they play for the national title. > > Those players only pass through the schools for 4 (or fewer) years but the allegiances last a long time. Most folks are fans of multiple schools and follow those players throughout their careers. There’s a lot to what you say. People do align themselves according to colleges and conferences. If you live in a state with two major universities you pretty much have to pick one or the other to root for. A great example is the state of Michigan where U of Mich. and Michigan State have a very deep seated rivalry. Yet, the state of Michigan has a very large state university system. There are, among others, Central Michigan, Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan, all members of the MAC Conference which is a very good athletic conference. Still, students and graduates of those school choose sides when UofM and MSU meet. It may be tough for non-US citizens to understand this but it has a lot to do with the USA being The United STATES of America. State and regional affiliation is something that runs deep in the culture of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/23 "2013-12-04T01:37:33Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > A great example is the state of Michigan where U of Mich. and Michigan State have a very deep seated rivalry. And it’s nothing compared to the Michigan/OSU rivalry. I know a few Mich/OSU marriages and things get a little dicey around The Game. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/24 "2013-12-04T04:26:57Z")
The OP probably knows this, but it isn’t _all_ “pro athletes” in America for whom their college affiliation is reported. Most baseball announcers rarely if ever refer to a player’s college. In part that’s because there are a lot of foreign players, mainly Latin American, who didn’t go to a US college, and also because quite a few American-born players go directly from HS to the pros. Very different setup from basketball or especially football. Just did a quick experiment. Of the 25 guys on my favorite team at the end of the season, I thought I knew where two of them had gone to school. I was right about one of them; the other, it turned out, hadn’t gone to college at all. Of the other guys who’d been to college, none of the connections rang any bells at all. I know a lot about these players, and quite a lot about some of them, but college doesn’t register. I don’t think I’m unusual among baseball fans in neither knowing nor caring about the college connection. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/25 "2013-12-04T04:41:09Z")
In Australia it’s far more important to name the pub where you drink. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/26 "2013-12-04T05:51:27Z")
Umm, I’m going to go a different direction based on this citation! [The WSJ says](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704281204575002852055561406) that only 11 minutes of an NFL is the ball actually in play. With 174 minutes of air time, I’m going to have to say that they mention the college team to fill in some of the time. I also don’t care about parents, siblings, kids, or wives, but I also have to watch them too. There is only so much to talk about so throw in something non-offensive and fun trivia. Look at what happened to Brent Musberger during the dead air in last year’s college championship game and his “complimenting” of the QB’s girlfriend. If you don’t have scripted things to talk about (because that game was a blowout), the announcers sound like idiots. So quite simply, they mention the college teams because there is nothing better to discuss. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/27 "2013-12-04T12:18:02Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > Umm, I’m going to go a different direction based on this citation! [The WSJ says](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704281204575002852055561406) that only 11 minutes of an NFL is the ball actually in play. With 174 minutes of air time, I’m going to have to say that they mention the college team to fill in some of the time. I also don’t care about parents, siblings, kids, or wives, but I also have to watch them too. There is only so much to talk about so throw in something non-offensive and fun trivia. Look at what happened to Brent Musberger during the dead air in last year’s college championship game and his “complimenting” of the QB’s girlfriend. If you don’t have scripted things to talk about (because that game was a blowout), the announcers sound like idiots. So quite simply, they mention the college teams because there is nothing better to discuss. Great theory. Except for the fact that the naming of the colleges is scripted (usually in the first minute or so of the game while they’re introducing the starters for each team) and only takes about 3 secs per player. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/28 "2013-12-04T13:13:04Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > I don’t really care much for the NFL or the NBA, but happen to be a rabid fan of a particular university and the majority of their athletes. So even though I’m not a fan, I happen to wish the best for the Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Rams and Los Angeles Clippers, among others. Armed with just that info, many people can identify which college I’m a fan of. > > So, the fact that they played for my university is the ONLY reason that I might occasionally watch an NFL or NBA game. Sooner fan… :mad: > [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Also note, that while players are in college, their _high school_ attended forms part of their identity. Players are introduced as “from [name of high school]”, because lots of fans watch high school football and basketball and follow the recruiting and it helps to identify the players. So be grateful at least that high school identification usually disappears by the time a player reaches the pros. Sometimes you do see high schools, if the player has a poor relation with their college team (kicked off, doesn’t like the coach, etc) or wants to represent home. There was a while when there were two starting CBs on one team from the same high school. I believe both were frome Naaman Forest High School in my old home town near Dallas and then went to the Colts. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/29 "2013-12-04T18:26:07Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I think part of it is also the NFL draft. Pretty much the only path to the NFL is to play for a college, usually a major one, for 3 or 4 years, then be drafted by an NFL team. Ding ding ding! Winner. Virtually all NFL players get to the NFL the same way: they play college football and get scouted there. It’s not like, say, association football where you might come up through a pro team’s academy, or play in lower divisions and work your way up; you play in high school\*, then college, then the NFL. So the college program is part of your identity as a player, more so than your home town (which is frequently announced in other sports, like boxing.) \*some high school powers are nearly as famous as college teams, like Southlake Carroll in Texas, (Miami) Central, and Mater Dei. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/30 "2013-12-04T19:33:06Z")
Apparently you can say anything during that segment; I could have sworn that before this Sunday night’s game, Pierre Garcon said “Pierre Garcon, Haiti.” Did I imagine that? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/31 "2013-12-04T19:34:04Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Of the 25 guys on my favorite team at the end of the season, I thought I knew where two of them had gone to school. I was right about one of them; the other, it turned out, hadn’t gone to college at all. Not comparable - most pro baseball players did \*not \*go to college, while almost all pro football players _did_. Or at least they played for a team that had a college’s name on it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/32 "2013-12-04T19:39:35Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > There’s a lot to what you say. People do align themselves according to colleges and conferences. If you live in a state with two major universities you pretty much have to pick one or the other to root for. In the Alabama-Auburn game this past weekend, Auburn pulled out a totally unexpected win on a once-in-a-lifetime freak play at the very end of the game. Soon after, one drunk Alabama fan [shot](http://www.wtop.com/209/3516868/Sister-Deadly-shooting-was-over-Bama-loss) and killed her friend, not because the friend was an Auburn fan, but because the friend was also an Alabama fan but was not upset enough about the loss. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/33 "2013-12-04T19:40:50Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > Apparently you can say anything during that segment; I could have sworn that before this Sunday night’s game, Pierre Garcon said “Pierre Garcon, Haiti.” Did I imagine that? Probably not - Garcon’s family is Haitian. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/34 "2013-12-04T19:51:06Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > Apparently you can say anything during that segment; I could have sworn that before this Sunday night’s game, Pierre Garcon said “Pierre Garcon, Haiti.” Did I imagine that? Nate Burleson name checked his elementary school the last time the Lions were in prime time. Hard to beat [Terrell Suggs](http://www.sportsgrid.com/nfl/terrell-suggs-ball-so-hard-university/), though. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/35 "2013-12-04T20:16:22Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Not comparable - most pro baseball players did \*not \*go to college, while almost all pro football players _did_. Or at least they played for a team that had a college’s name on it. 😉 Yes, that’s exactly what I said. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/36 "2013-12-04T21:46:12Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Nate Burleson name checked his elementary school the last time the Lions were in prime time. Hard to beat [Terrell Suggs](http://www.sportsgrid.com/nfl/terrell-suggs-ball-so-hard-university/), though. That is outstanding. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/37 "2013-12-04T22:24:11Z")
Not exactly the same but there was Otis Sistrunk. He was a crazy, hard-nosed player with a bald head that was one of the few that never went to college. He played for the Oakland Raiders which had somewhat of an outlaw image. During a game (I think it was a Monday night game) the announcer was giving the starting lineups with name and college. When he came to Sistrunk he gave his name and said, “University of Mars”. The tag stuck. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/38 "2013-12-04T22:27:04Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > In the Alabama-Auburn game this past weekend, Auburn pulled out a totally unexpected win on a once-in-a-lifetime freak play at the very end of the game. Soon after, one drunk Alabama fan [shot](http://www.wtop.com/209/3516868/Sister-Deadly-shooting-was-over-Bama-loss) and killed her friend, not because the friend was an Auburn fan, but because the friend was also an Alabama fan but was not upset enough about the loss. When you live in Alabama you have to get your priorities straight. Drinking, guns and college football. Not necessarily in that order. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/39 "2013-12-05T00:11:40Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > During a game (I think it was a Monday night game) the announcer was giving the starting lineups with name and college. When he came to Sistrunk he gave his name and said, “University of Mars”. The tag stuck. That was the late Alex Karras, btw. Sistrunk was one of the few players who didn’t go to college. After HS, he joined the Marines, then worked in a meatpacking plant while playing in the beer leagues, which got him noticed and eventually offered a tryout with the Raiders. Anyway, the story is that his college in the Raiders media guide said “US Mars” for his Marine experience. Karras picked up on that. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260/40 "2013-12-09T03:40:55Z")
I haven’t caught a Jared Allen intro lately. Does he still like to invent silly things to say, or is he finally giving Idaho State, his actual alma mater, a little love? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eternal-mentioning-of-a-pro-athletes-college/675260.md?page=3)