Patrick Witt, Yale Quarterback, Forgoes Rhodes Scholarship To Play Against Harvard (VIDEO)

Yale Quarterback Chooses To Play Against Harvard Over Chance At Rhodes Scholarship

For many college students, the toughest decision to be made during a given week is whether to spend their last five dollars on a six-pack of domestic beer or a box of Ramen Noodles.

For Yale quarterback Patrick Witt, things were a little bit more complicated.

In recent weeks, Witt was been faced with an interesting conundrum: Does he lead his football team against hated rival Harvard or attend an interview for the opportunity to win a Rhodes Scholarship.

He couldn't have it both ways. The interview was scheduled to take place at Emory University in Atlanta on this coming Saturday. Unfortunately for Witt, Yale was scheduled to play rival Harvard in "The Game" on that very same day. With the interviews scheduled to begin at 8 AM and the game set to kickoff at noon, it seemed unlikely that Witt would be able to participate in both given travel time.

After careful consideration, Witt chose football.

"I will be playing in the Yale-Harvard game this Saturday," Witt said in a press release. "My focus this week is solely on preparing for The Game alongside my teammates and coaches."

According to ESPN, Witt asked the committee if anything could be done to accomodate his schedule, but they declined to alter their schedule.

"We have candidates every year miss games for the interview," Elliot Gerson, the American Secretary for the Rhodes Trust told ESPN.com. ""(The) Rhodes Scholarship is an academic award, and is not an award for 'scholar-athletes,' despite some popular perception of it in that explicit light."

While it was a tough decision to be sure, many supported Witt's choice to put team over self -- even in this extreme scenario.

Fortunately for Witt, he can still apply for the award any time before he turns 24.

In the meantime, it looks like Harvard will have its hands full facing a Yale quarterback looking to prove that he made the right call.

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