McConaughey’s Wisdom

You know, Matthew McConaughey is connected to college football in a lot of ways. (I know bare with me on this one.)

We all saw him on the sidelines last year as he watched his Texas Longhorns (read: Vince Young) shred the Trojans defense in last season’s Rose Bowl. His love for his team cannot be denied.

He is also set to star in a movie about the tragic Marshall football team plane crash.

But it’s a line he said early on in his career in “Dazed and Confused” about his affinity for high school girls that really stuck with me:

I get older, they stay the same age.

Creepy? Slightly. But the same applies to a lot of what we love about college football. (Stay with me now.)

Last year we had two of the most unbelievable athletes on display in the same game when Vince Young and Reggie Bush squared off. Well, those two are gone now. But there will be two to take their place. When they’re gone, some more will fill their shoes, and so on and so on.

We fans age (definitely), mature (sometimes) and grow up (usually). But kids are always going to be there playing their butts off for their school. Yes, the same applies to the pros; there will always be someone to take the place of the superstar. But college is where it’s pure, where kids and teams make their names.

Franchises may change cities. It’s almost impossible for a star to stay on the same team his entire career. But the schools aren’t moving, the college teams aren’t going anywhere. You know where to find them on Saturday and you know the name on the front of the jersey is the one that matters. (Even though most teams don’t have the name on the front of their jersey, but you know what I’m saying!)

And this is not to bash professional football. Let’s face it, we love just about all kinds of football not played in a hockey rink or with a round ball. But we have enough headaches and complications in our worlds that sometimes we don’t want them in our football.

College football is just that, football. Pure and simple. I’ll take it any day of the week no matter how old I am.

And guess what? It will be there.