Is It True That College Football Can Positively Affect Grades: Check It Out

February 22, 2023 by Staff

Society has been stereotyping college athletes for a long time now, considering everyone who plays sports a ‘dumb jock’. We see this in movies all the time – college football players and athletes that fail their exams and have to ask peers for help or get tutorship. It seems like every college movie these days has a player who might get expelled from the team because they cannot pass their subjects. The reality is very different and this stereotype might just be the harshest our society has created so far.

This image of college football players is so distorted that the truth is the exact opposite. There are plenty of athletes in college circles that excel in many subjects. In fact, research has shown that playing sports can positively affect the student’s performance. In this article, we’ll beat those stereotypes and show you how amazing sports can be for a student.

Are Football Players Really Bad at Other Subjects?

If we are to make this conclusion, it would appear that being on the field and practicing a sport makes you dumb. This is far from the reality. College football players all have their interests and traits. Just like every other student, they can excel in different subjects, and they can work hard to pass all subjects and land the best grades.

Reality is, with so many practices and matches, football players often have far more limited time compared to those who don’t play sports. They often struggle with deadlines because of it, but this doesn’t mean that they don’t know how to write an essay or can’t create the best quality paper if they set their mind on it. Today, with the availability of professional writers in online help services, students including athletes can have the much-deserved rest and catch up with all deadlines without destroying their grades. On top of that, students frequently use an online plagiarism checker with report to ensure that their work is original.

With so many tools at their disposal, college football players today can get the best grades and enjoy the same opportunities as other students. On top of that, they frequently have physical activity to keep them in shape, both physical and mental.

The typical argument people have against sports is that it interferes with the studying process. Sports can take a lot of time and energy from the student, but they also come with many perks that we’ll discuss below.

Sports Can Positively Affect Academic Progress

There’s a lot of evidence today that shows us how beneficial sports can be for a young person. A new study from the University of Kansas shows that participation in sports such as football can yield better educational outcomes. This study goes to show that athletic competition won’t make a student smarter, but it will improve a variety of skills that the student can later use to improve his performance. These include the student’s persistence, energy levels, and motivation.

Athletes are taught discipline, which is a great skill to have while in college – and in life. A Washington Post article from 2010 spoke of a Harvard University psychiatrist who connected physical exercise with mental acuity. The MRI scans of brains of people who lived a sedentary life before they improved their fitness levels show increased volume in the frontal, temporal lobe, and the hippocampus. This is associated with cognitive functioning, memory and learning.

Activity makes us more agile, discipline and helps us obtain information easily. So, even if the football players in a college have a busier schedule, the skills they obtain because of their exercise help them memorize things faster. This leads to equal or better academic performance.

Benefits of Playing Sports in College

Let’s go through the main perks that students enjoy because they play football and other sports in college:

• Improved focus and cognition. Exercise improves the blood flow to the brain, the person’s intellectual functions and their alertness. This leads to better thinking and learning, and faster processing of information.
• Improved test scores. Physically fit, organized students often show better results on standardized tests compared to sedentary students. They have more energy and focus, which makes them able to better answer the questions and land higher grades.
• Increased self-esteem and confidence. It’s no secret that those who participate in sports are confident and popular in school. This helps students adapt better in any situation, make friends with the right people, and work with others to improve their knowledge.

Wrapping Up

The idea that a football player isn’t as good as someone who doesn’t play sports in college is very wrong. Being active and playing in a team has great value for students, so much that a lot of research points out that athletes can perform better in school compared to those with a sedentary lifestyle.

Author’s Bio
Cory Shilling is a college advisor for students. His responsibilities include advising students and helping them find their path in life. Students go to Cory for guidance, and they frequently read his educational articles published in online journals.