Let’s say I’ve been a writer all my life, which is not true. I was once a high school football player, but the analogy works better this way.

As a youngster, I ran home every day from school to sit at my typewriter. I dreamed of someday writing for a college paper before going on to the professional ranks. I was pretty good and earned many honors.

However, before entering college, I took the ACT and failed to meet the Proposition VDT (Video Display Terminal) requirements. That meant I wouldn’t be able to have my work put before the public, and I couldn’t even practice with the other writers on The Northern Star team.

I was crushed.

Future NIU student Tyrone Isaac and three other incoming freshmen are faced with the possibility of that same situation, except they’re not writers—they’re football players.

But minutes after signing his National Letter of Intent Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., Isaac did not seem too concerned about the possibility of sitting out his freshman season.

He will meet the Proposition 48 requirement of a 2.0 grade-point average but has had trouble with the ACT minimum of 15. He has two more chances to pass, the first of which is Feb. 27.

But the thing that surprised me the most about Isaac—who is black—was the fact he said he didn’t feel the eligibility standards were unfair. You often hear the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other activists say the ACT and SAT tests are discriminatory against blacks and other minorities.

Isaac was accepting it. He seemed ashamed of his test failures, choosing to take all the blame on himself instead of looking for a scapegoat.

He wasn’t dumb. He was very articulate, something a reporter notices right away. And he was a man about the questions being asked. He didn’t decline to comment.

If he doesn’t succeed, Isaac will have to miss the 1988 season and next year’s spring drills. NIU offensive coordinator Mike Summers said he feels the intent of Proposition 48 is good, but the NCAA needs to alter the punishment slightly.

“The rule is good, but the way it’s done is counterproductive,” Summers said. “The player can’t be the team and have the support from the players. Some won’t even make it to their second year because they’re isolated from all their help.”

Isaac called Wednesday one of the “biggest steps” in his life, yet his first priority of the day was an accounting test. Head coach Jerry Pettibone delayed the signing so the future Huskie could concentrate on passing the test—a tribute to the football team’s emphasis on academics.

In his bedroom, the posters and football cards of Walter Payton showed who his hero was. Wait, Isaac corrected himself. He said Sweetness is still his idol.

It became obvious that if Isaac is as determined as he seems to be, and as determined as Payton was (is), he should be a success both on the football field and as a business major.

And that’s what counts in the long run. Not ACT scores.