Another problem is that college athletes at all levels complain that there role as athletes are overemphasized, to the detriment of their roles as students. According to Francis X. Dealy, some college athletic departments have become little more than glorified training camps for professional sports teams. This problem is compounded by overzealous recruiting practices, with colleges accepting academically unqualified students solely because of their athletic skills. These students are exploited and overworked, treated as commodities rather than as students, and given little academic support; many fail to graduate (106). With the demands of heavy travel and practice schedules, many student athletes even those with strong academic backgrounds, risk falling behind in their studies. Moreover, their grueling schedules tend to isolate them from other students, excluding them from the college community. Given these difficulties, college athletic programs are under considerable pressure to institute reforms. .
The problems associated with athletic scholarships are numerous and complex, but they have less to do with the scholarships themselves than with the way dishonest and exploitive administrators run their programs. It is understandable that the main focus of most collegiate sports programs is winning. According to Vince Lombardi, the famous football coach, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."" To the alumni, the administrators, and the fans, that only measure of an athletic program's success is its win/loss record. A winning record attracts money and students; a losing record does not. They seem to believe, as the philosopher George Santayana has observed, "In athletics, as in all performances, only winning is interesting. The rest has value only as leading to it or reflecting it- (qtd. In Dealy 61).
This concentration on winning has led to some of the worst abuses in college athletic programs.