These are not the innocent babes some would have us believe.
There's not too many positive interpretations that can come from that passage. Either it's suggesting that the players are tacitly complicit with the process because of benefits they receive. Or the other read is that these 17 or 18 year olds are informed of the process and should be smart enough to know that 40 and 50-year old coaches will be operating their system to be the most successful possible, even if that means taking advantage of youngsters' naivete.
