You touch on something that I think is driving the emotions of this event, but which is not the core issue.  There are those who would say that one of the things wrong with modern society is that we do not have the ritual forms that allow for those growing up to move from one stage of life to another.  In most tribal societies there was set ritual or rituals for instance for a boy to move to that next stage of manhood.  These rituals allowed for or at least facilitated a more psychologically healthy passage through what is known as the liminal space, where the boundaries dissolve, we find ourselves on a threshold, between what we were and what we will be. 

And there would be those that argue that things like football or other competitive activities (say, the debate club) and the adults that help guide the kids through those endeavors, like the coaches and teachers, are the next best thing as a replacement for those lost formal rituals of society in helping adolescents and young adults move through that liminal space.

And these people might argue that someone can have a child, and hold down a job, and make sacrifices for that child, and still psychologically not feel as they have become a man or a woman.  That they would feel even more unsettled, a child impersonating an adult. 

The Lakota Sioux have the well-known Sun Dance:

The ritual occurs over a period of four days, corresponding with the four sacred directions, which is likened to the four levels in subconscious mind each corresponding with a certain element. The sixth level being earth, the fifth level being water, the fourth level being fire, and the third level being air. It involves a sweat lodge ceremony in preparation, which is a heated and covered, insulated structure that purifies the body and mind in preparation for what is to come. Devotional songs are sung and upon exiting the sweat lodge a preparation time is made to be pierced. A needle is threaded through skin in a man's chest in two places, then string attached to the instrument used to pierce the skin. These strings are tied to a sacred tree or pole, and pressure is applied to pull the person's body up until the skin breaks and the person falls back.

This practice can be done by a young man as early as age 11, as a means and rite of passage into manhood. With the preparation, the attention is focused clearly and the mind clarified and purified, and a commitment of some sort is made and sealed with the completion of the ritual. It creates a strong expectation and belief in the mind of the participant that they will uphold what they commit to do, and affirm their belief in their place in the tribe and upholding of Indian traditions of respect for all life. This strong expectation and solemn commitment made to self sets the processes of growth very strongly into motion within the individual.

This particular ritual no more literally makes one a man than playing football.  But it is the portion of what I bolded in that comment where one can find how maybe playing football in the right program with the right coaches can make the difference in the lives of some young men.

Remember, too, that many of these players come from some rather awful upbringings, broken homes, and dysfunctional communities.  Many of these young men did not have good father figures or authority figures in general growing up.  For some, when they come to the campus of a college, and get involved in a football program along with the academic side, it is the first time that they have had real consistent structure in their lives, real stability, and in some cases a stability that means they know they are going to have three meals a day every day.