2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges committed to Tennessee over Ohio State last week, and the reaction from Buckeyes fans has been a complete meltdown. 

That reaction is further evidence of how wide the gap has grown between fandom and actually understanding what it takes to succeed at the highest level of sports.

Ohio State fans believe Gabriel Georges picked Tennessee only because he received a bigger NIL offer from the Vols. They’ve also latched onto quotes from the Times Free Press about his decision and twisted them into something they aren’t. 

The accusations, from money to demanding to wear No. 0, have circulated since @DavidGG27 made his commitment Wednesday. He and his inner circle saw them and responded, telling the @SportsChatt, “Nothing against the staff at Ohio State, but @Vol_Football just out-recruited them.…

— Stephen Hargis 🇺🇸 (@StephenHargis) July 25, 2026

A source close to Gabriel Georges told the Times Free Press that the five-star running back felt football would be more of a chore at Ohio State than something he enjoys playing. 

Buckeyes fans saw that quote and started calling Gabriel Georges soft and questioning his work ethic.

And that’s absurd.

This is a kid with a relentless work ethic who is incredibly disciplined. He goes to bed at 8:00 PM every night. He doesn’t eat junk food and he already looks like he’s been playing in the NFL for five years. I don’t know how you can call him soft, and I don’t know how you can question his work ethic (the same people saying that stuff probably don’t have an ounce of the same work ethic or discipline that Gabriel Georges has). 

I think i know the same guy… https://t.co/B6f8DGhcSI

— Erik Kimrey (@ErikKimrey) July 26, 2026

The human element is getting lost in college football fandom

I think the problem here is the gap between fandom and understanding what it actually takes to perform at a high level. 

And I’m far from the first to have that observation. 

ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, in fact, noted in his recent profile of Sean Payton that he and the Broncos head coach have a running conversation about that very topic. 

“Payton and I have known each other for years, and a running conversation between us is the paradoxical relationship between the NFL and America,” wrote Wickersham. “The more professional football is watched and discussed, the less people truly understand what goes into winning a game, much less competing for a Super Bowl, what the practitioners of it are willing to trade, and what it does to those who define themselves against the results.”

I’m no expert — I haven’t played at the highest level — but I’ve watched and covered sports for most of my adult life, and I have a teenage son who plays multiple sports whom I spend countless hours coaching and mentoring each week. The biggest takeaway I’ve had over these years is that a player has to play free to be at their best. They have to play with confidence, and they have to play without worrying about outcomes. It’s about sticking to the process every single day and accepting that you’re not going to win every rep. And then being able to find a way to look forward to the next rep instead of getting down on yourself because of a bad rep (bad reps and losses are unavoidable, and that’s where growth happens…Roger Federer’s graduation speech earlier this year perfectly illustrates that point).

A lot of fans have forgotten about the human element of the game. Just because a player is rated high or just because a coach had success at a previous school, doesn’t mean it’s automatically going to translate to the next practice or game. You have to earn it every day.

That’s where having fun comes into play. That’s why athletes compete — because they enjoy it. It’s the same as what they say about finding a job you love. Find something you love doing and you’ll never work a day in your life, right? The same is true in athletics. Just because you’re coached hard, or just because there are difficult moments you have to grind through, doesn’t mean you stop loving the game. But if it’s a chore, you’re probably not going to be at your best.

And what feels like a chore for one person may not feel that way for another. 

There is no one-size-fits-all approach that works for all athletes

There is no universal formula that says one school is the right fit for every single athlete. Some kids who are a fit at Ohio State wouldn’t be a fit at Tennessee. Some kids who are a fit at Tennessee wouldn’t be a fit at Ohio State. Some aren’t a fit at either school. Some are a fit at both, and they have to make a tough decision on where they want to go. It’s different for every single athlete. Just because Ohio State has been a more successful program than Tennessee over the last two decades (and objectively, they have been) doesn’t mean every recruit wants to go there. There are a lot of elite football players who came from schools not named Ohio State. 

Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, said this month that he took way less money to go to Indiana than some other schools were offering because he felt the Hoosiers were the best fit for him. He obviously made the right decision as he led Indiana (a school that had won nothing in football before) to a national championship. That’s just one example of an elite player who took a path that maybe didn’t make sense to others.  

Gabriel Georges clearly felt like Tennessee is where he’s going to be the best version of himself. The next five-star stud running back may feel like Ohio State is that place, or he may feel like it’s Missouri.

We’ve got to close the gap between fandom and understanding what the day-to-day life for an athlete is actually like, because the human element is getting lost more and more every day. And sports are nothing without the human element (the competition is why sports are so compelling — because we have no idea what’s actually going to happen).

If you don’t believe me, just spend five minutes on Twitter. It’s a complete nightmare.