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The positive publicity for Stanford from Luck, Sherman, Baldwin, DeCastro, et al. overwhelms any potential negative publicity of this situation. And in any event, this story is quickly becoming a story about Incognito, not Martin.

Just to make clear:  The storyline that concerned me has nothing to do with Martin personally or what he did here -- based on what I've read/heard, his actions appear entirely justifiable and correct to me, and I have very little, if any, worry that this specific situation will create a recruiting issue. 

The storyline I was referring to is the perception that a degree from a highly-ranked academic institution is considered a negative in the NFL that could make your life tangibly less enjoyable on a daily basis and, in extreme circumstances, end up in a situation like this.  If that is really the case -- and if it is something that isn't already sufficiently well-known among prospective NFL players [i.e., "old news"] such that it has already been factored into the decision-making process for recruits -- it just strikes me as a potential problem, not just for Stanford, but for a number of schools.

Is it unreasonable to think that an elite, smart HS player who is good enough to legitimately anticipate having a long NFL career [say, 10 years] might consider that factor, even as part of his "40-year decision"?  Maybe so, but I'm not as confident of that fact as others appear to be.  Hope I'm wrong.

[76lsjumb]

The positive publicity for Stanford from Luck, Sherman, Baldwin, DeCastro, et al. overwhelms any potential negative publicity of this situation. And in any event, this story is quickly becoming a story about Incognito, not Martin.

Just to make clear:  The storyline that concerned me has nothing to do with Martin personally or what he did here -- based on what I've read/heard, his actions appear entirely justifiable and correct to me, and I have very little, if any, worry that this specific situation will create a recruiting issue. 

The storyline I was referring to is the perception that a degree from a highly-ranked academic institution is considered a negative in the NFL that could make your life tangibly less enjoyable on a daily basis and, in extreme circumstances, end up in a situation like this.  If that is really the case -- and if it is something that isn't already sufficiently well-known among prospective NFL players [i.e., "old news"] such that it has already been factored into the decision-making process for recruits -- it just strikes me as a potential problem, not just for Stanford, but for a number of schools.

Is it unreasonable to think that an elite, smart HS player who is good enough to legitimately anticipate having a long NFL career [say, 10 years] might consider that factor, even as part of his "40-year decision"?  Maybe so, but I'm not as confident of that fact as others appear to be.  Hope I'm wrong.