My experience is the opposite. I graduated from UCLA--was a fraternity president-- but have come to feel disgrace for all it stands for. Universities are mega-corporate leeches on the young. Most graduates are typically forever in debt by an industry as corrupt or worse than big tobacco.The older I get, the more college football matters to me than the NFL.
I didn't graduate from Dallas Cowboys University - that was never part of my experience. I graduated from Ohio State - it's personal, I have memories.
The NFL will never match that experience, unless you played in it.