The Charade of Amateur Athletics

            Lane Kiffin is a college football coach at the University of Mississippi. There is nothing more important than Ole’ Miss football in Oxford, Mississippi. It is so important that the University pays Coach Kiffin $9 million annually. He has never won a conference championship, much less a national championship.

            DeSanto Rollins was a defensive tackle at Ole Miss last season. He is 22 years old. He is 6’3” tall and weighs 305 pounds and looks every part of a college defensive tackle. He has been on the SEC Academic Honor Roll, the Chancellor’s Honor Roll, the Dean’s Honor Roll, and the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.

            In high school in Louisiana, he was an all-state player during his junior and senior seasons.

            Rollins was dealing with mental health issues in February and March this year. Kiffin asked to meet with Rollins but Rollins said he was not ready to meet with Kiffin while he was dealing with his emotional health.

            Kiffin accused Rollins of “hiding behind [expletive] and not showing up to work.” Kiffin then threw Rollins off the team when Rollins asked why the coach was being disrespectful. Kiffin told Rollins to “go read your [expletive] rights about mental health.” “What [expletive] world do you live in?”

            As Kiffin berated Rollins, who was clearly still dealing with his emotional issues, Rollins responded meekly, yet Kiffin kept it up, finally throwing him off the team.

            What is interesting about Kiffin’s tirade, apart from his lack of empathy for one of his football players whom he is supposed to care for and coach at the collegiate level – not the professional level – is that Kiffin told Rollins that he was not showing up for “work.”

            The charade of college athletics being an amateur competition for student-athletes was fully exposed in that moment. And the talent on the field, predominantly Black, remains unpaid for the “work” that they are expected to do, even when suffering from debilitating mental health issues.

            Kiffin sounded like a fraud just like the rest of the collegiate sports industry. These kids – and let’s remember that they are kids – are treated like professionals in every way except on Fridays when paychecks are due. On those days, their bank accounts remain empty, their bargaining leverage is non-existent.

            Rollins has filed a lawsuit against Ole Miss and Kiffin alleging that he was a victim of discrimination because of his disability, his race, and his sex. He has alleged that white players were allowed to attend to their mental health, as were female athletes at the University. He has alleged that he was suffering from severe depression and anxiety at the time stemming from a concussion and an Achilles injury that he suffered in 2022 and the death of his grandmother in early 2023.

            Clearly the kid was hurting, and he needed support from his team and his coaching staff. None was provided.

            The SEC, the conference where Rollins and Ole’ Miss play, earns $300 million per year in media payments alone. None of that money goes directly to the athletes who generate the revenue.

            The day is coming when college athletes will assert their power and demand that their interests are protected. As long as coaches like Kiffin hang around, that day will be here sooner than later.