Fordham: First Patriot FB Team To Offer Schollies

It had been rumored on various message boards for the past few weeks and the rumors have come true: Fordham will be the first Patriot League football program to offer scholarships. A press release was posted on the Fordham site today.

From the release:

Fordham will remain as an associate member of the Patriot League for football, which currently does not offer athletic scholarships in the sport, and will be eligible for the 2009 League title and automatic playoff bid. Fordham will continue to be included in the League schedule until at least the 2012 season but will not be eligible for the Patriot League championship beginning with the 2010 season. Fordham will also continue to abide by the League's academic and eligibility requirements.

Coach Tom Masella is quoted in the release:

"This is a great day for Fordham football. Being able to award scholarships based on athletic ability will greatly increase the pool of student-athletes that we are able to recruit. We are pleased to be able to maintain our Patriot League schedule and at the same time, look to enhance our schedule with the addition of some FBS schools along with top FCS schools. In the end this will aid us in achieving our ultimate goal, a chance to compete for an NCAA FCS championship."

The Rams will now play Connecticut in 2011, Navy in 2012 and Army in 2014 and 2015, games that could not have been scheduled by the FBS teams if Fordham were non-scholarship.

Green Alert Take: Columbia President Joseph M. McShane, S.J., says in the release, "This is a sea change for Fordham athletics." He's right. And it very well could be a sea change for the Patriot League. Although Fordham and the Patriot League have reached a settlement of sorts for the next several years, it's hard to believe the relationship will last beyond that. Unless, of course, other Patriot League schools follow suit and institute scholarships. If they don't, expect increased speculation about the possibility of other schools (Bryant? Hofstra? Marist?) sliding into some kind of Patriot League football affiliation in the near future.

Green Alert Take II: If Fordham's move helps tilt the scale toward scholarships in the PL, the Ivy League very well may start losing a few more talented and bright football recruits to those schools. Scholarships might also mean the cozy scheduling relationship between the Ivy League and Patriot League would be headed for the rocks.

Do check out the Lehigh Football Nation spin on Fordham and scholarships. ... The Patriot League announcement is here.