The reason for this rule was rampant hiring by alumni for jobs that paid amazingly well (ie $50+/hr) which often had little or no proof of the hours worked. Alums were basically giving money to the star athletes under the guise of “work”.
@twoinanddone - While there are hundreds or thousands of students who play D1 football that never expect to turn pro, every kid recruited by the Power Conferences is told about the schools’ record of creating professionals. The majority of those kids are primarily focused on getting to the NFL. There are 32 Rhodes scholars per year…the same number of first round picks each year for the NFL draft. In 2016, 2 of those scholars were NCAA athletes… a football player and a runner. Myron Rolle is a unicorn…someone who could play in the NFL and be a Rhodes scholar. I don’t believe you can name another.