...that somebody on the team who is taking school seriously with hard classes will have football activities from 7-12, class until about 5 or 6, study until 10 or 11. Then repeat. Every day. It takes a lot to carry on with that sort of schedule when you aren't the star (and don't have much of a hope of becoming the star) and you want to have some sort of social life and date and enjoy your undergrad experience outside of football. If you consider football, school, and study the equivalent of work hours, you're working 80+ hours a week and if football isn't your #1 priority, it makes sense for it to be the first to go...