Nease High School quarterback Marcus Stokes had his full-ride scholarship pulled by the University of Florida when he posted a clip of him singing along to a rap song that included racial slurs. 

     Stokes inevitably posted his apology to social media after this occurred, “I was in my car listening to rap music, rapping along to the words and posted a video of it on social media. I deeply apologize for the words in the song that I chose to say. It was hurtful and offensive to many people, and I regret that,” he says. 

     His response to his scholarship being taken away was respectful and seemingly genuine, “I fully accept the consequences for my actions, and I respect the University of Florida’s decision to withdraw my scholarship offer to play football.” 

   As a senior,  his future was uprooted and his reputation was tainted due to a careless mistake. Some may believe his apology shows no true remorse because the only thing this quarterback feels bad about is the consequences. 

     According to Tristan Hardy of First Coast News, “[Stokes] earned his impeccable record and he’s known as one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. Stokes was being looked at by several different universities including Penn State, the University of South Florida, and Virginia Tech.     

     Stokes is now a recruit without a school, which makes things difficult for his career regardless of his skills on the field. As of right now, he is still hunting for a school, trying to pick up his life after his mistake. As David Hookstead of OutKick states, “does revoking his scholarship offer, and thus making him radioactive, really help him learn anything? The answer is almost certainly no.” 

     The question is,  should  this senior have lost his scholarship?

     Well-known and highly successful Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has made a similar
“mistake” several times with no serious repercussions. According to Matt Johnson of SportsNaut, Jackson made approximately 23 million for 2022. He even turned down an extension from the Baltimore Ravens which demonstrates his confidence in his career. 

     Jackson had deleted a tweet that he had posted after losing to Jacksonville, a tweet that had directly insulted a fan. A  Baltimore Ravens fan had tweeted, taking the loss out on Jackson to which he had replied with a homophobic insult which was later deleted.

     Days later, Jackson attempted to defend himself for choosing to post that insult with “this is defamation of my character, because not once have I ever mentioned or disrespect anyone’s sexuality, sexual orientation, gender, religion or race. You’re reaching.” 

     The only type of repercussions towards Jackson was the empty promise that the coach of the Baltimore Ravens tweeted in reply, “I heard about it last night and talked to him this morning. I just beg guys not to get into the Twitter world, especially after a loss. It’s not going to be positive. I think that’s reflective of his response.” 

       No other sort of punishment was given to the star quarterback for this incident and yet this Florida senior may have just lost his career. No one can say that either offense is worse than the other, and yet Jackson gets off scot-free because of money and fame. 

     I would never excuse Stokes’ actions; in no way is what he did okay. However, why is an 18- year-old being held to a higher standard than a famous NFL football player? 

     Jackson should have been held accountable for his actions. Homophobic or not, Jackson knows he is an influencer and should have been more conscious of what he posts online for everyone to see. 

     Both football players made a mistake and yet only one of them might lose their career while the other is still collecting his paycheck.

     Seems to me that if Jackson gets a get out free jail card on this one, the least Stokes deserves is a second chance to prove he’s learned his lesson.