KANSAN COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / TUESDAY, MAY 10. 2011 / NEWS
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Athletes (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
THE ROLE MODEL, THE RARITY
During his final season as a high school football player, future Kansas star Darrrell Stuckey's mother was laid off from her job at Sprint in Kansas City where she had worked the entirety of Darrell's life. She had five children to provide for. Her ex-husband, who was in prison on sexual assault charges, offered no support.
That final year, Darrell would leave his high school football practices early to help his mother at home. He said she taught him everything, from his work ethic to how he relates with people. From a young age, she instilled in Darrell the importance of education. So when Darrell Stuckey was offered a scholarship to play football, he knew it wasn't just about sports.
"I wasn't going to be in school four years and not get a degree," Stuckey said.
As an 18-year-old standout football player at Washington High School, Stuckey knew he had the talent to make it in Division I football and beyond. But with his mom recently laid off, he had no financial support from her. He had just become the man of the house and was about to leave for college. He felt an obligation to help support his family and thought football would be the best way.
His athletic scholarship covered tuition; food; room and board; and any counseling, tutoring or career advice he could ever need. Because of his family's financial need, he was also eligible for a federal Pell Grant that provided a $260 monthly stipend for living expenses, half of which he dutifully sent home to his mother to
help her pay bills.
"I would be lucky to break even," Stuckey said.
It wasn't much, but he said it was fair. The Pell Grant money was capped at a set amount the government could contribute beyond a scholarship.
"It's a way to get reimbursed," Stuckey said. "The NCAA can't do it, but the federal government can."
Even with the Pell Grant, Stuckey had to budget each month down to the penny.
Extra KU assistance funds provided help in other forms. One provided Stuckey with $500 to spend on new clothes. Stuckey appreciated it because he knew his body would be changing since high school players tend to bulk up when they play Division I football. He bought new clothes and the University reimbursed him, after making sure they were for him and not to be sent or sold to somebody else.
Stuckey said with the scholarship, Pell Grant and extra assistance, the University had found a way to make him financially comfortable. He said all football players should feel grateful playing for Kansas, a program that made, after expenses, more than $1.8 million in 2010.
"It's a selfish desire to say revenue sports deserve payments," Stuckey said, arguing that Title IX was put in place for a reason and that women on non-revenue teams desire just as much financial help as any football player or male basketball player. Revenue sports also finance teams that don't bring in money, he said.
Stuckey was a star player on the 2008 Orange Bowl team that earned his coach, Mark Mangino, a pay raise from his base salary to
$2,270,584, exceeding the combined salaries of then Athletic Director Lew Perkins and basketball coach Bill Self. Stuckey never complained about coaches' salaries, and still doesn't, despite being one of the most recognizable stars on a team that brought in the income.
Stuckey was the star in his mom's eyes. She came to every one of his home games. Stuckey felt guilty because he knew she couldn't afford it. He knew his mother was struggling financially at home, and he hated it. But as a man, especially as a man in a revenue sport, he thought he could help her.
Despite knowing by his junior year he had a chance to play in the NFL, he worked hard in class, earning a degree in communications. He is just three hours away from a double major in African-American studies.
"Every kid dreams to be successful and to not have to struggle anymore," Stuckey said. "So when you go to college and you win a national championship, or a bowl game, or become an All-American, you feel like you've accomplished everything that you wanted at the college level, regardless of academics."
He complains that African-American athletes are stereotyped as poor students. "They're the ones who come from a broken home," he said, "or they don't care because they are just trying to get through so they can move on."
He says NCAA rules offer all athletes the same opportunities.
"I feel like the NCAA does a great thing," he said. "Some would say it's the least they can do, but nothing is perfect. And it does work in the way it is done now."
In 2010, Darrell Stuckey was drafted in the fourth round by the
San Diego Chargers. He signed a 4 year contract that will be worth $2.4 million at the end of the four years. The average rookie salary in the NFL is $325,000, and he earned $380,000. He has achieved his dreams while also reaching his goal, to provide for his family.
"Your parents raise you because you can't help yourself," Stuckey said. "And you're supposed to help them when they can't help themselves."
He continues to send money to his mother, only now it is considerably more than the little he could afford from his Pell Grant. He says it is his way to thank her for instilling in him the importance of an education.
His careful budgeting of modest funds got him and his mother through his five years of college. His effort on the field and in class will provide him a future he once could only dream about. Now, with an NFL lockout looming, Stuckey has been practicing on his old Lawrence stomping grounds with some of his old teammates.
Stuckey has been training and mentoring Chris Harris, the free safety who replaced Stuckey. Harris is currently ranked the 28th best free safety coming out of college according to NFLDraftScout.com. Realistically; it is not a ranking that guarantees anything in the NFL, so Harris has learned from Stuckey how to prepare physically for the NFL training camps while also being ready for an alternate future.
According to Harris, Stuckey told him when picking out an agent, "Find the one who wants you to stay in school. Find the one that's big on education."
SEE Athletes ON PAGE 4A
Kansas' Darrell Stuckey runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, March 2, 2010. Stuckey represents the two percent of college athletes that make it to the pros. He also earned a degree in communications and would like to explore motivational speaking in the future. Michael Connop/AP PHOTO
Michael Conroy/AP PHOTO
Finding security after tragedy
ate in February, Thomas Robinson, 6-foot-9 sophomore forward for the men's basketball team, towered over the media in the hall connecting the locker room to James Naismith Court of Allen Field House. He held his blue and white Adidas shoes and smiled at questions reporters asked him.
When asked if he talked to his 7-year-old sister Jayla every day, he laughed and said yes, adding that she had told him she got her first valentine.
Robinson has heard arguments about athletes wanting to be paid.
By the end of the season, after the sudden death of his mother, the questions about his sister began addressing life changing issues. Should he leave Kansas for the NBA? What would be best for his sister? What next? Another year at Kansas or an ESPN-projected 23rd pick in the NBA draft? Which would be better for his family? Big questions for a 19-year old, especially one who lost his mother and grandmother in the period of three weeks earlier in the season.
"I feel that we definitely more than taken care of," Robinson said, "but it might not be that way at other schools"
And he has a point. Kansas is one of the few schools that earns more revenue than its expenses. Still, some coaches, including Self, think that in a case like Robinson's, the NCAA should make further strides in its effort to accommodate student-athletes with extreme need, seeing that they do not get any of the revenue that keeps Kansas Athletics in the black.
"I do think there are certain situations where it would be nice for individuals such as Thomas, who have absolutely zero source of financial support other than what the federal government would give him through the Pell Grant that there could be some adjustments made where you could appeal to receive some sort of benefit or financial assistance." Self said.
The NCAA did allow the University to cover expenses for Robinson and his teammates to fly to his mother's funeral, but, there is no assistance from the NCAA beyond that.
Even so, Robinson ultimately decided to
"There is no help after the immediate deal," Self said.
stay another year at Kansas. What that says about the support he receives from Kansas Athletics and the community around the University speaks to itself.