In Hornung's world, athletic tail would wag the academic dog

Paul Hornung's politically incorrect comments about Notre Dame's need to lower its academic standards in recruiting student athletes made headlines because he injected race into the issue.
His comments were stupid, insensitive, and arguably racist.
During a radio interview in Detroit early last week, Hornung said his alma mater, Notre Dame, had to "ease it up a little bit" on its standards.
"We can't stay as strict as we are as far as the academic structure is concerned because we've got to get the black athlete," Hornung said. "We must get the black athlete if we're going to compete."
A day later, Horning corrected himself. He acknowledged that he was wrong to say Notre Dame should lower its standards to attract black athletes. The university, he said, should lower its standards for all races of student athletes if it expects to be able to complete at the highest levels.
And with that, the controversy promptly died.
Hornung's second statement is just as outrageous as the first, and the reaction is far more troubling, because the reaction, basically, was a shrug.
Double standard
It's as if people are acknowledging that prestigious institutions of higher learning are going to have to establish (if they haven't already) a two-tier system for admitting students. Ninety-nine percent of the students must be academically gifted, with scholastic records, admittance essays and test scores to prove it. A handful of gifted athletes, however, are welcome to take up space in the classroom as long as they can perform on the football field or basketball court.
If a student is not capable of doing the academic work that is required at college or university, that student shouldn't be there. Some universities live by that rule; many do not.
Those that do manage not only to field athletic teams, but they don't have to be ashamed of the graduation rates for their student athletes.
Those that don't may have more trophies in their cases, but every year about this time they have to fashion elaborate excuses for why only 10 or 15 percent of their student athletes ever get diplomas.
Reason to wonder
Hornung's "solution" to athletic malaise at Notre Dame is to lower standards in the name of being more competitive. It's enough to make one wonder what intellectual, moral and ethical standards the university applied when it accepted Hornung a half century ago.
The university gave him an opportunity to learn the game of football. He won the Heisman Trophy and had a pro career, overcoming a gambling scandal at one point. He's enjoyed success. But his professors obviously failed him in a number of ways.