Illustration by Arnie Bermudez

From campus to campus, coast to coast, football players receive special treatment and they deserve it, except for the ones that really suck.

It's a well-known fact that the UA has one of the worst football teams in the country. Starting Quarterback Kris Heavner has thrown for as many touchdowns as interceptions (four) and has rushed for an impressive negative 35 yards in the past six games.

Out of 118 college teams, the UA ranks 112 in total yards and 115 in total points for the 2004-2005 season. The only team that we could probably beat in the next year is the Tucson High junior varsity squad.

A football program is supposed to be one of the strongest and largest money lifelines to create profits for a university. Therefore, the football players who make a college rich have every right to be pampered and given free passes in classes.

Moe Naqvi Columnist

However, if a football team can't score a touchdown from its 1-yard line with four opportunities, or win more than one game it does not deserve to be given special privileges, especially leniency for any illegal actions.

If the UA had a squad up to the caliber of a USC or Stanford team, then by all means, it should be showered with pounds of steak and larger dorm rooms, but that's not the case.

A university's football team is supposed to keep a campus's heart beating. It is a sport that should bring a student pride in his school colors. The UA football team has depleted the school spirit from all fellow students and has most likely turned fans to depression or watching "Sex and the City."

I now only go to the games solely to watch drunk fans heckle overweight security guards and gather up change from beneath the bleachers.

The only punishment that is proportional to the pain inflicted upon us lowly spectators by the UA football team is taking away their special privileges and complimentary hot towels.

The UA is on the right path to eradicating special treatment of "bad" football players through numerous examples.

Last month, freshman defensive lineman Yaniv Barnett and junior running back Gilbert Harris were diverted to the Dean of Students Office for lying to police and possession of marijuana.

Harris had initially tried giving the police officer a fake name, and he probably would have gotten away with it had he rushed for 200 yards the previous game. But since neither player was remotely awesome on the field this season, they were both directed to the Dean's Office.

Within a month, Barnett was found in possession of the "happy drug" again, but was immediately suspended from the team. Barnett had a few weeks between drug violations to break through on the field and make tackles, but he once again failed to achieve even mediocrity.

If Barnett had increased his tackle and sack stats within the weeks he was "clean," I guarantee you that he would not have been suspended from the team.

Last week, wide receiver Biren Ealy was banned from traveling with the team to Oregon for violating team rules. Ealy has had two catches all year for 18 yards. Coincidence? Nope. Maybe if there was a zero at the end of both numbers, then Ealy would've been punished a little less severely, but alas, he doesn't have the stats.

Let's look at an instance in which heads have been turned in order for good players to be put in the lineup. In July 2003, an investigation revealed that football coaches at Alabama State University played ineligible players. The head coach had denied those allegations at the time they were made and no further action was taken. However, it has since been realized that the coach lied, but since the 2003 season is now over, it doesn't matter what happens to the graduated football players.

All the players that have thus been suspended or punished by the UA are not players of exceptional skill.

Until the UA recruits a better football team, football players will be continually suspended, sent to diversion programs or even jail. Good players are never thrown into the public spotlight when they do something wrong because without them, the university loses money.

However, because there is no evidence of a superstar athlete on the UA team, it will be open season for public humiliation and punishment for each player until the season ends.

Although this might seem harsh, it is good for the fact that maybe it will jump-start the UA football team in becoming better or the fact that other colleges will take after our treatment of below-average football players. Good players deserve the special, better life, whereas the players who fall below that line of "good" do not.

Moe Naqvi is a physiological sciences freshman. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.