"Yale quarterback Patrick Witt withdraws Rhodes Scholarship application, will play against Harvard"

[CTyankee]

"In the end, Patrick Witt chose football over his pursuit of a Rhodes Scholarship.

The Yale senior quarterback was a Rhodes finalist, but would have to be in Atlanta for his final interview on Saturday, forcing him to miss the season finale against Harvard.

On Sunday, Witt released a statement through Yale stating that, “I will be playing in the Yale-Harvard game this Saturday. I have withdrawn my application for the Rhodes Scholarship. My focus this week is solely on preparing for The Game alongside my teammates and coaches.”

Story here, folks: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/11/14/sports/doc4ec041e9cf18d498037490.txt

I know it's none of my business, but unless he's got an understanding with the Rhodes Scholar organization that he can re-apply without prejudice for the scholarship, his decision seems awfully shortsighted.

I know there is no comparison to the Penn State scandal, but it's another indication of how college football gets a little out of whack with reality sometimes...

And it may all be for nothing, anyway. Come this Saturday, I will be watching at the Yale Bowl here in New Haven as Harvard, once again, beats Yale in The Game. Some old Elis will be drowning their sorrows at their tailgate parties...

[FSogol]

1. Football bashing aside, a quarterback is an important piece of a team, he made a comitment to play

for Yale, so it would be wrong to miss the Harvard game.

[CTyankee]

3. I get that but in the Ivy League, scholarship should take precedence over

football...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

25. and maybe outside the Ivy League, too. nt

[backtoblue]

2. I love me some football, but...

A Rhodes Scholarship could pave this young man's future into something that one football game could not. Like you said, not really my business what he has chosen, but there are far brighter accomplishments in life than football.

[CTyankee]

4. It means SO MUCH to someone his age, of course.

I kinda feel sorry for him and hope he CAN re-apply for the scholarship...it would be sad if he couldn't.

But we all have choices to make in our lives...and his ain't the worst type of choice by any means...

[joeybee12]

5. And let's face it, he plays for Yale, he's not going to get drafted into the pros...

Maybe he figures he wouldn't get the scholarship anyway.

[KamaAina]

27. Are you sure about that?

Currently, Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick played for another Ivy League school. Its name has slipped my memory for the moment. :P

[joeybee12]

28. Yeah, but look what's happened to the Bills as of late!

}(

[dmallind]

22. I'm guessing Yale degree and proven "leadership" will get him a decent gig

Rhodes finalist won't hurt either, especially with a "commitment" interview question response in the bag as to why he bowed out.

[bluestateguy]

6. The Rhodes people just couldn't reschedule the interview could they?

This guy has a bright future either way. A possible NFL draft pick and at the very least a Yale degree, which is still worth something today (for now).

[CTyankee]

8. "Excuse me, but couldn't you guys just change around all your schedules

to give me another interview time? You see, I've got this football game..."

:rofl:

[bluestateguy]

13. Be that as it may

He has shown the Rhodes people a thing or two about commitment, loyalty, leadership and character.

[DevonRex]

18. I agree. Nt

[CTyankee]

19. My husband agrees with you and actually I hadn't thought about it that way until he said it.

I don't doubt that the kid is terrific. He sounds like a really solid guy and keeps his commitments...

[1gobluedem]

59. Exactly n/t

[Blasphemer]

7. I can see both sides but, ultimately, he's an adult & part of being an adult is making tough choices

and there are always consequences. He had to decide which consequences he is willing to live with and he chose his commitment to his team. My guess is that there are other finalists who would have chosen differently and they are the ones more likely to actually earn the scholarship. Level of enthusiasm for and commitment to the scholarship program is something that would certainly come across in an interview.

[CTyankee]

9. But you know, my husband said that since the Rhodes Scholarship was all about

leadership, Witt was showing leadership by sticking with his commitment to lead his team...so I guess there are two sides to that coin...

[gratuitous]

14. A tough choice

I saw a report on the evening news about this. It was a pretty good presentation, but the odd thing the reporter noted was that the guy's teammates were sort of encouraging him to go to the interview, while his academic colleagues were saying he should play in the game. Fortunately for a schlub like me, this sort of conundrum would never present itself: be the star quarterback in the big game or interview for a prestigious scholarship, but you can't do both. For me, it would be go to the truck pull or attend your cousin's wedding.

[CTyankee]

20. You are right, either way he probably has it made. And I'm sure he would

have hated himself for the rest of this academic year until he graduates...and the scorn he might have faced might be pretty daunting to him. He's just a young guy...

[SkyDaddy7]

10. More proof that football is like a CULT in the USA!!

I am not a football bashers as I run two fantasy leagues but we value football way too much! Many allow football to eat away at their common sense much like religion can cause do to many people.

We all know it is true but not many football fans will admit it...Just look at all the folks running to the indefensible defense of Joe Pedo Enabler at Penn (Pedo) State. DISGUSTING!!

[sharp_stick]

11. It could also be a show of support for the school.

his support for his school above the interview. Even though it's a Rhodes final interview he may have felt the odds were stacked against him. IIRC there are around 30 Rhodes positions allocated to the US, I don't know how many finalists there are.

Then again it could be that he simply wanted to support his Bulldogs as my alma mater the Crimson slowly closes up on the wins gap this weekend. I miss the pranks, there haven't been many of those lately have there?

Keep in mind also that it's Yale he's attending not a State school. A degree and networking potential from Yale isn't much of a step down from a Rhodes. I don't know Witt or anything about him but if he's already set up his post-graduate plans he's not going to be lacking for opportunities.

[CTyankee]

17. Yes, the peer pressure on him must be enormous. He's evidently a kid from

Nebraska who transferred to Yale from a state school. I feel sorry for him actually and I hope he can get another shot at it...

There probably will be an enormous amount of affection for him this Saturday, regardless of the outcome. Having been married previously to a Harvard grad and now living in New Haven where I have many Yalie friends, I truly "get" it about The Game. But you know what? Harvard loves Yale and Yale loves Harvard. Yes, deep down they do...

No pranks recently that I can recall. Nothing could outdo that WE SUCK in the Harvard section of the stadium of a few years back. Those Yales must've worked pretty hard on that...it was masterful!

[sharp_stick]

23. WE SUCK was a fabulous prank

maybe that's why there haven't been many since, it would be tough to top. The people that organized that deserved some kind of commendation.

[CTyankee]

31. Have you seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGn3-RW8Ajk

It's a cute, kind of "Glee" like, musical admission office video promoting Yale to kids and their parents considering choosing to go to Yale. All done by Yalies.

You'll note Brian Williams in the part on "Master's Teas" and Yale's residential colleges. His daughter, who was a senior when this was made, is seen in this segment...she's the pretty blonde in the wingback chair, singing..."...masters teas, where you'll see all your favorite celebrities..."

It's pretty tongue in cheek, but appealing to 18 year olds and their parents!

[Old and In the Way]

12. If he's smart enough to qualify as a candidate for a Rhode's scholarship,

I see no obstacles in his path to a bright future. He's already got the pedigree needed to do get where ever he wants to go in this life.

[The Second Stone]

15. If they only offered one time slot for the interview

and he has a prior commitment, he should keep the prior commitment. Plain and simple. That the prior commitment is to give and receive concussions isn't really relevant.

[DevonRex]

16. OTOH why on earth would the interviewers make him choose?

It's a very obvious prior commitment to the school and the team.

[KamaAina]

24. Probably a bunch of Harvard people

on the interview committee. :P

[CTyankee]

32. oh god, will they stoop to NOTHING???

[ecstatic]

33. +1. nt

[KamaAina]

21. Ssssssssssssssssssssss!

Sincerely,

KamaAina
Y'85, cum laude

[onenote]

26. A friend of mine's son had to choose

between attending a job interview and showing up for a class presentation (a group project) that represented 60 percent of not only his grade, but the grades of others who worked on the project. The interview couldn't be rescheduled.

He decided to skipt the interview. I think it was the right thing to do, but then again, one can hardly predict the future. Maybe he would've gotten the job, maybe not. Maybe he'll get another job opportunity that is as good, maybe not. Maybe the class presentation would have gone well without his participation, maybe not.

You makes your choices...

[Book Lover]

29. Good. The scholarship is that much more available

for those who actually value it.

Let the dross fall by the wayside.

[CTyankee]

37. Wasn't there a famous short story once about a college football star and

how he never got over his brief moment of making a touchdown at an important game, told from the perspective of him as a grown man who never made a success out of his life...that essentially the football game was THE high point in his life and he never amounted to much later...

[Proud Public Servant]

42. Don't know about a short story, but

that came up in pretty much every episode of "Married with Children." :rofl:

[CTyankee]

49. I found it on Google: it's "The Eighty-yard Run" by Irwin Shaw.

I remember reading it a long time ago (he wrote it in the 1920s). Dark side of the American dream or lost youth or guy who never grew up....one of those themes...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

30. I hope he doesn't twist an ankle in the first quarter

'cause then he'd have three quarters to contemplate dumb decisions.

:hi:

[MADem]

34. Idiot. Just as well, though--let it go to someone who isn't engaging in deliberate

brain injury for the greater glory of his school.

[Marrah_G]

35. I think if the guy is smart enough to be considered for the Rhodes Scholarship

AND be a college level quarterback at the same time....then I think he is smart enough to make this decision for himself.

I don't know what I would advise my son to do in this case.

[grasswire]

36. bulldog bulldog! n/t

[CTyankee]

38. Bow wow wow...Eli Yale!

I can hear it now reverberating in the Bowl...it's gonna be SOME game this weekend...

I wonder if we get some big names coming to the Bowl...just a year before Ted Kennedy developed his brain cancer, he was at The Game, seen tailgating in the Bowl parking lot with Chuck Schumer...

This thing will make The Game all the more exciting I hope...bummer to watch Yale lose year after year...

[ProdigalJunkMail]

39. The Working world, in which he will, with little doubt land,

will prize his dedication to team perhaps even more than a Rhodes Scholarship. He is plainly very bright and has a good future with or without Rhodes...this decision might actually be the better one.

sP

[Proud Public Servant]

40. You all just don't get it. The Harvard-Yale Game

isn't "a football game." It's one of the most important rituals of the American Elite. Doing right by The Game (his capitalization, not mine) will offer him opportunities at least as great as any derived from a Rhodes scholarship. A Rhodes is an honor; playing in Harvard-Yale is lifelong membership in The Club.

[CTyankee]

41. Oh, I get it for sure. I was married to a Harvard man for almost 20 years

and heard about it LOTS (still do when at family events). And living here in New Haven and being a regular attendee of Ivy League games at the Bowl, I am immersed each fall...

You know of course that modern football was invented by Walter Camp right here...

[grasswire]

57. what year was that, and was Camp a Yalie?

My most recent family ancestor Yalie was class of 1748. FWIW.

[CTyankee]

61. Here's the info on Camp

http://waltercamp.org/index.php/info/

That arch and field is not far from my house...

[Fool Count]

43. That's just an application, it's not like he won the scholarship and

then refused it. You know how competitive those scholarships are? You know what his academic
record is in comparison with other applicants? He may have just realistically gauged his chances
and decided that it was not worth missing the game.

[CTyankee]

46. That could be...we don't know...but I had heard about this last week

before he made his decision.

OR, he might have asked if he could try again next year and they wouldn't hold this refusal against him...

[Fool Count]

53. Possibly. But what I am more curious about is why in the world

should filing a scholarship application disqualify a student athlete from competing? Can someone enlighten me on that?

[CTyankee]

55. No, the interview for the scholarship is on the same day as the Game. That is the conflict.

It is that he has an interview for this scholarship at the same time that there is a big game so he cannot attend both...literally...physically.... get it?

[Fool Count]

58. Get it. Sorry, I should really pay more attention before

shooting my mouth off. So he did make it through to the interview, which is a big boost to his overall chances of getting it.

[CTyankee]

60. No, he was scheduled for the interview as a finalist but it conflicts with the football game.

He can't be in two places at the same time, so he cancelled his interview for the Scholarship. Maybe he asked (and got) a promise for another interview. I certainly hope so...but what do I know...???

[LibertyLover]

44. I had hoped that he would be able to do both -

I recall a similar case from a few years back when another college team's quarterback faced the same problem - play or interview for a Rhodes scholarship. In the end he was able to do both with the help of the school's alumni association who chartered a plane to take him to the interview city immediately after the game, which as I recall his school won. He got the scholarship too. But I admire Mr. Witt for choosing to meet his obligations to his fellow team members. And besides, a Yale degree is nothing to sneeze at, even in this day and age.

[jpljr77]

45. There was another football player who chose the Rhodes interview, fwiw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myron_Rolle">Myron Rolle was going to skip his game (he played for Florida State) against Maryland, but the Rhodes people accommodated him and moved the interview and the NCAA allowed him to take a plane to make the game (since it's technically an improper gift).

People make decisions all the time for various reasons.

[Dawson Leery]

47. Not much of a loss since the Rhodes scholarship is named for a white supremacist.

[CTyankee]

50. Yup. Rhodesia comes to mind...

but I doubt if the committee now is of the same mind...

[Dawson Leery]

51. I never understood why any progressive/liberal would

give any respect to that award. The "prestige" around the award is related to the perceived supremacy of the upper British class.

[whistler162]

52. Ask Robert Reich, Rachel Maddow, and Bill Clinton

[a la izquierda]

48. You beat me to it.

[Taverner]

54. His choice, his life

I wouldn't make the same choice, but more power to him

[CTyankee]

56. As I have said, I just wonder if the choice is really so stark,...maybe it's not...