The NCAA deservedly got ripped by former college athletes across the country on Tuesday after the organization released a commercial about a “day in the life” of a student-athlete.
The video showed a smiling basketball player going to class, hanging out with peers, playing basketball and studying. Basically, he was living a carefree life in college. To call that an average day for a college athlete was disingenuous at best and a shameless piece of propaganda at worst.
To have that video run during the NCAA’s most exploitive month elicited a harsh response, but former Texas Longhorns and Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho took the criticism to another level. He made an entirely new commercial, and this time, it was realistic.
Acho showed the intense early morning workouts, the running to make class on time, the post-class workout, the exhaustion, pain and berating from coaches that all come with being a real student-athlete. The video even included a late-night “movie” invitation that had to be turned down because of 6 a.m. workouts.
Acho’s ad ended with the NCAA logo and the tagline of “providing opportunities for athlete exploitation.”
Yeah, that was the real commercial that the NCAA didn’t want people to see.
