Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Assigned Reading: Doug Gottlieb was once Johnny Manziel, a selfish college athlete

CBS Sports Network

cbssports.com

John P. Filo

If you don’t know of Doug Gottlieb’s story when he was a young and immature college basketball player at Notre Dame, here’s the short of it: In the spring of 1996 after the conclusion of his freshman season, Gottlieb betrayed the trust of a fellow Notre Dame student who graciously allowed him to use his computer by taking his credit card and having himself a little online shopping spree.

Like so many college students who believe they are invincible, Gottlieb thought he’d be able to get away with this foolish act -- the starting point guard for Notre Dame can do anything, right?

Well, as you’d expect, Gottlieb was caught and immediately bounced from Notre Dame. What happened next? He grew up.

Today, 17 years after the fact, Gottlieb sees a lot of current Texas A&M quarterback and the face of college athletics Johnny Manziel in that foolish kid he was once upon a time.

“Johnny has that same arrogance I had. The difference is nobody was putting me on the cover of Time Magazine, making me a poster boy for why college athletes should be paid,” Gottlieb wrote.

Gottlieb’s larger point is not about Johnny Manziel though, it is about the entitlement that college athletes seem to have today, particularly the ones playing on the largest of stages.

There will always be an argument of whether student-athletes deserve to be paid or not for their play, but Gottlieb argues that many are losing sight of the value of a scholarship to college and what that affords these student-athletes. Essentially, the scholarship to a highly-selective and expensive school is the payment.

Whether you agree with Gottlieb’s stance or not, his article is well worth the time to read. It’s a thought-provoking piece from someone who was once in a similar spot as Johnny Manziel. Check it out here.

Follow @KLDoyle11