Using their brains

Stanford's two top running backs? Members of the National Honor Society.

One of its primary receivers? A high-school all-academic, now working on his master's degree in political science.

The Cardinal offensive line? Everyone was on a high school honor roll. One is now a classics major. Another is working on his bachelor's in science, technology and society while getting a master's in sociology.

This is the team that upset USC on Saturday.

During the game, I counted 66 kids in Cardinal red and white. In their media guide, more than half -- 36 -- were listed in the National Honor Society. More than a dozen were Merit Scholars in high school. Ten are now academic All-Pacific 10 Conference. Eight are studying for advanced degrees.

Sure, beating USC made them winners -- but the truth is, they are double winners: on the field, and in the classroom.

The Trojans -- indeed the entire Pac-10 and almost all major college football teams -- can learn from Stanford. They can learn what college ought to be about: education.

Stanford footballers, brace yourself, are first and foremost students. Not just good students, but great ones.

Imagine that.

It starts with the kind of football players Stanford recruits. It might make for some long, ugly dry spells, but almost all Cardinal recruits are kids whose greatest successes come in the classroom.

Let's say a kid is an all-everything tailback with a C average and low but acceptable College Board scores. Big-time coaches will sit down with his parents and offer the world. Trust me, a kid like that will find a home at Iowa, Florida or USC.

Stanford won't bother.

What if the same kid has a B-plus average and better-than-average College Board scores?

Stanford still might not look his way.

"We hired a new admissions director when I was there, and even though the standard was always rough, they started coming down really, really hard," says former Cardinal quarterback Chris Lewis, a 2004 graduate who threw for 390 yards against California in the Big Game. "Guys who had 3.65 GPAs and 1200 on the SATs, they could go almost anywhere else. They were getting turned down just because they were not absolute straight-A students.

"That's pretty frustrating," Lewis adds, "when you're having some down years."