Commentary: FAMU and football's bigtime

WASHINGTON, July 31 (UPI) -- Sometimes, we miss important developments, in life overall and in seemingly meaningless everyday happenings.

At the very least, I'm embarrassed by my oversight on this one. I saw a story about this, but for some reason, I didn't react to it.

I would like to think that other media sources did the same thing, but since those sources have far more people and resources at their disposal, they share some of the blame.

The item to which I refer happened July 21. On that day, Florida A&M University, located in Tallahassee, became the first predominantly black institution of higher learning to be given I-A status in football by the NCAA.

"I am pleased with the efforts of the Board of Trustees and the Athletic Department in this historic move," said school president Dr. Fred Gainous.

Contrary to what many people think, this really is an example of how far we've come on the race issue.

There was a time in the not too distant past that a development like this would have been unheard of. I can see it now: the shock people express in Norman when they hear that the Rattlers, who play the Sooners in 2004, are a Division I-A program - in football.

They already are in hoops and most other sports, and this season, they play Florida, a school where players don't take games like this lightly.

There is a tendency to shrug this move off, thinking that the school's powers-that-be have bitten off more than they can chew. Realistically, that appears likely. After all, FAMU plays football in the Division I-AA Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Not exactly something that would make you shake in your boots.

After all, the school plays in a conference that doesn't even make Division I-AA opponents quake or worry, plays the "big boys" for a big pay date (which means you're thought of as a sacrificial lamb), and these days, the Rattlers don't dominate the schools in their own conference anymore, much less in their own division.

Last season, FAMU was only 7-5, lost to perennial I-A powerhouse Miami, 63-17, and lost to Howard, a conference foe which sees football as a necessary evil.

Heck, the Athletic Director, Dr. J.R.E. Lee III, has admitted that this is a economic move, even though he contends that A&M will continue to recruit players who want to play on television and against competition at the highest level.

(By the way, Lee has a history in broadcasting. He is the former president of the National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters.)

"The additional exposure will enhance the image of the entire university," Lee said. "It will allow us to penetrate into markets that athletics and the university had not been previously exposed to."

Sounds good, and I for one hope FAMU is successful. However, it's hard to see that for a number of reasons.

Scouts still view schools like FAMU, which is a pass-happy team and plays a wide-open offense, as "that small black school." The big boys almost never play you in a series home-and-home. These are stereotypes that live on and won't be wiped out anytime soon, in my opinion. The school last played for a I-AA title in 1978, when it beat Massachusetts in the title game.

Another major drawback is that FAMU will play initially as an independent. At a time when it is more lucrative to be a member of a conference. I can't see this being an economic boon.

Another big hurdle is perception. Even though quite a few players in recent years have transferred to A&M from bigger schools, the numbers show that far too many of them get to the NFL by signing as undrafted free agents. That's a situation that hurts both FAMU and its counterparts. The feeling always is it shouldn't matter that you don't get drafted. Just get a tryout and you can get a contract that way. For example, in this year's NFL Draft, there were two players from predominantly black schools among the first 64 picks, none in the first round, and those two played in the secondary, where black players are historically tabbed for their "speed," which to me has become a buzz word.

Kudos to a contact in the school's Sports Information Office, who sent me the names of former FAMU players, names I should have known off the top of my head, who literally make up a "who's who" list.

In their heyday, these guys were household names -- Bob Hayes, Nate Newton, Willie Gallimore, Ken Riley, Gene Atkins. Hardcore football fans know these names, and that list does not include current players like Wally Williams, Earl Holmes, Ben Coleman, Tony Bland, Cedric Harden, and Robert Wilson, who were among players who went to training camps this summer.

A publication called Black Voices Quarterly reported that since 1992, the last year there was a 12-round draft, roughly 3.5 percent, or fewer than 100, of the more than 2,600 players drafted by the NFL came from black colleges. The overwhelming majority of that 3.5 percent went in the fifth, sixth or seventh rounds of the seven-round draft.

This is just a sampling of what FAMU faces, and potential recruits know this stuff. Hope FAMU has a plan to derail the negatives.

"The NCAA has placed the ball on the one-yard line and we are certainly going to score," Gainous said.

Hope folks are patient because it won't happen overnight, if at all, but I'm a supporter. Guess that comes from being raised by people who told me constantly that you have to work twice as hard to get half as much, and if it's getting too hot in the kitchen, it's just right for me.