National Signing Day: Remember to Respect the Athlete’s Decision

With National Signing Day upon us, we would like to remind college football fans to respect the decisions of the athletes making their selections today.

I have to admit… I am pretty geeked out. National Signing Day is here and like always, it is quite exciting!

Many UCLA Football fans, just like college football fans across the nation, cannot wait to see which athletes choose their school. More importantly, it is a huge day for these young men to make one of the biggest decisions in their lives. Not only are they choosing a program to play college football at, they are choosing a school to help further their education.

This is a decision that will affect the rest of their lives and it needs to be respected.

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Going back to the fans, as supporters of the football programs that are near and dear to us, we sometimes get overzealous. It happens.

Now there is always room for friendly back and forth banter, especially at games, but National Signing Day is a celebration for all and it looks bad when recruits are called out for their decision by bitter fans, simply because they did not select the school those fans support.

It is true, Athlete X would have made a great slot receiver or defensive back for School Y, but that does not mean fans of School Y should throw vitriol at Athlete X. Athlete X believed School Z to be a better fit for them and that is that.

This is an exciting day for all. Why not join in on the celebration by congratulating these young athletes instead of spitting fire at them, especially on social media. If you appreciated their talents before they made their decision, you should continue to do so after.

College football is a great game and even though National Signing Day has been radically commercialized, it is part of an ever evolving game. So why don’t we, as fans, evolve with it and give all these commits a round of applause and wish them luck on their next four years.

Next: UCLA Football National Signing Day Live Tracker

Good luck to all the athletes heading into the next chapter of their lives and for those joining the UCLA Football team’s 2017 class, welcome! Go Bruins!