Do they take softer majors than usual?
I would say that higher percentage of footballers are political science majors (a soft major), but this doesn’t tell the whole story. Some footballers supplement more difficult majors with easier classes, and other footballers eschew easy majors and classes altogether. From a numbers perspective, the football team recruit a wide range of academic profiles; some players are recruited because they have 2300 SATs and boost the team’s academic index, while other players have 1800s. Beyond these numbers, players also vary in ambition and academic interest. Although some of the footballer stereotypes are true, I think that non-athletes tend to overestimate them. While footballers and athletes might adopt “bro-ier” personas in social settings, they tend to be more articulate and thoughtful in academic situations.