I'm guess asking: Why is 4 years of dedication to a sport (in at least the D1 context) not considered an education on its own?

List the degrees achievable from a typical college, and rank them in terms of usefulness outside college. Then fit 4 years of a D1 sport into that list. I have a hard time believing the usefulness of 4 years of a D1 sport would be at the bottom of the list.