Never prostitute your integrity to get a job or to keep one.
Lee Corso
Florida State University Commencement 2012, 2012
Video starts at 11:39 — the moment this quote was spoken
The Story Behind This Quote
Corso drove this lesson home with a powerful story from his coaching days at Indiana. He had rejected three talented recruits because they refused to stand for the national anthem, reasoning that if they couldn't respect their country, they wouldn't respect their team. Those players ended up on a rival team and beat Corso's squad badly two years in a row. But three weeks after the second loss, all three were arrested for serious crimes and kicked off their team. The rival coach who had recruited them never coached again — he had 'prostituted his integrity to win a few lousy football games.' Corso, by contrast, proudly noted that in 15 years as a head coach, no NCAA investigator ever spoke to one of his players. His integrity was the one thing he valued above all else.