As I sit watching the Football Draft, I see player after player listening for their name to be announced and have their life changed forever. Not only does your performance on the field affect your “Draft stock”, but you’re off the field activity plays a vital role as well. Teams do not want the liability of having players with troubled past, or so I thought. Well sure enough in the 3^rd round, a player was selected that had not only failed multiple drug tests, but had been arrested for carrying a pistol without a permit. His “punishment” was, instead of being 45 on the NFL Network 50 prospects, he fell to 78. In the big scheme of things. this is just a slap on the wrist for crime that can lead to jail time. On the other hand, last week, 3 female university softball players were suspended indefinitely from their program after being arrested on the charge of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. With the NCAA and most states, in this case Alabama, having ruled marijuana as an illegal substance, this would be the proper response. However, their arrest and suspension from the university is not the problem. My problem is their seems to be a higher standard that female athletes are required to uphold.

As a division 1 female athlete myself, it seems as if we are held to a much higher standard in comparison to the men. We are expected to excel academically, perform to the highest level, and keep a good representation of the university on and off campus at all time. This should be the standard across the grid for male and female athletes, but this is often not the case. Whether it is a university lenience or the coach’s moral judgment, many male athletes have made poor decisions and are still valued on the field, while females have a much shorter leash.

I am aware that for many of the male sports at the universities, they bring a tremendous amount of revenue into the school. However, this should not constitute male athletes' making mistake after mistake. This instills a false sense of security that will not be met outside the university walls. Regardless of the revenue that these players bring to the university, shouldn’t we want to uphold the moral judgment of the law regardless of the athlete’s gender? Are we really okay with a player getting arrested, sitting out the first half, then making a grand entrance in the second half to finish the game or score that last touchdown?

Maybe it is deeper than money, maybe it is just society’s way of keeping women in line. Boys can fight, curse, yell and it is just “boys will be boys”. If a male player lost his temper, he would be viewed as passionate but as females, we are taught to hold our tongue and be composed. It is frowned upon for us to “lose our cool” and that shouldn’t be the case. Female athletes are just as passionate, work just as hard, and perform just as well as male athletes. Doesn’t that count for something? Personally, it’s a little upsetting to watch a draft. Men are entering a league, making millions and had the leeway to make mistakes along the way with the security of the program behind them. While there are females across the nation that are being told, “find another program” based on the same mistakes male athletes make.

We are all athletes; we all play because we love the game and to represent the university. We all let our emotions influence our decision and sometimes we simply have bad judgements that is detrimental to ourselves and the university. It is unfortunate that a moment of immaturity can sometimes end your athletic career, however that is life and whether you are male or female the same rules should apply.