Homeless Academic All-Big 12 Baylor Running Back Silas "Salsa Nacho" Nacita Kicked Off Team By NCAA For Accepting A Place To Live

All I wanted to do was go to school and play the game I loved. pic.twitter.com/zYQ0HTaz05

— Silas Nacita (@Salsa_Nacho) February 25, 2015

I always wonder if it’s worth it to keep doing these blogs about the NCAA.  If it’s just too much beating a dead horse, if people get the message already, if it’s all just totally redundant.  But then something like this story about Silas Nacita comes along and reminds me why it needs to be said, over and over again, every single time.  That the NCAA needs to get blasted from every corner of the internet every time they pull some crap like this.  That they pull in money hand over fist, billions of dollars off of an unpaid work force, then spend their nights kicking kids off of teams for accepting “impermissible benefits” like a fucking roof over their head.

Seriously if you don’t know the story of Silas, this is a must-read piece by Ken Rodriguez.  Really need to read the whole thing to appreciate the whole situation, but here are some of the footnotes real quick.  He earned a 4.1 GPA in high school and a scholarship to Cornell, ever heard of it?  While being homeless.  Like, with no place to live, he aced every class and got into an Ivy.  His father died when he was 16.  He went to Cornell but left to be closer to his mom, but couldn’t go to Baylor right away so he went to community college nearby and worked 12 hour days bussing tables at a restaurant.  Earned a scholarship and got a federal loan and finally got to Baylor where he scored 3 TDs and was All Academic-Big 12 last year.  He slept on apartment floors and studied cell phone pictures of textbook pages for his classes.  He became active with the local youth homeless shelter and became their community ambassador.   He’s universally beloved by his teammates as evidenced by the Oakman tweets and by his coach – “He’s a baller,” Baylor coach Art Briles says. “The legend of Silas is his personality, his grit, his unwavering belief in being positive every day. He’s a borderline stud.” A beat later Briles clarifies: ”Take the border out. He may be over that line.”  That’s who the NCAA decided to bring the hammer down on, because rules are rules.  Anyone ever stop to think hey…maybe those rules are fucking bullshit?

PS – The origin of that awesome nickname?

Meanwhile, his football popularity soared. One fan tweeted “Silas Nacita” only to have it autocorrect to “Salsa Nacho.” On a kid without a drop of Hispanic blood, the nickname stuck. Children showed up at McLane Stadium wearing sombreros and masks. Fans chanted, “Salsa Nacho,” after he made a big play. When Silas ran from one side of the field to level an Oklahoma State kick returner on the other, the place detonated. Girls created a sign and posted it on Facebook: “All I want for Christmas is Salsa Nacho.”