I fail to see how expecting kids to live up to, and abide by, the rules that are very clear is "straight up fucked up", or "dumbness"?
Notre Dame sells prospective student-athletes, and their parents, on the value of the education that they will receive at Notre Dame. They also sell them on the kind of person that they will become, at Notre Dame. So why the hell would ND then say "winning football games is more important than the personal responsibility to follow the rules, whether you agree with the rules or not". You made the commitment to attend Notre Dame. In doing so, you made the commitment to follow the rules that the University sets forth. You did NOT agree to follow the rules that you agree with, and fvck the ones that don't make sense to you.