Players opting out of bowl games (1 Viewer)

[tenordas]

It began as a trickle last year.

LSU running back Leonard Fournette and Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey each sat out their bowl games. Though their precise reasons were different — Fournette was already banged up while McCaffrey was seeking to eliminate the risk of injury — each had an eye on the NFL draft.

This year, the trickle is starting to grow into a trend. So far five college players have gone on the record to say they’ll be sitting out their bowl games: Oregon running back Royce Freeman, Florida State safety Derwin James, Texas safety DeShon Elliott, Texas offensive tackle Connor Williams, and West Virginia running back Justin Crawford. More may follow.

https://www.seccountry.com/lsu/lsu-receiver-dj-chark-bowl-game

The article basically is about DJ Chark being a stand up guy who scoffs at the notion of missing a bowl game to protect himself as an NFL prospect. All honour and lauds to him for doing so.

However, I'd like to say this to Arden Key, Corey Thompson, and Donnie Alexander: thanks so much for skipping the Citrus Bowl and leaving your team without three of its best defensive players.
Call me bitter, but I don't think Notre Dame would have been able to score a TD had you not pulled this selfish act and bothered to play for your team, who you let down over your paranoia of preserving your draft expectations.

The bigger question, though, is if the NCAA is going to try to do something about this, or if they will look the other way while players decide to ignore their commitment to their team in the pursuit of the brass ring. As the article says, it starts with a trickle. But now, agents are going to be suggesting this to Seniors and Juniors who look to be serious NFL prospects. How far will this be allowed to go?

 

[wnelson]

https://www.seccountry.com/lsu/lsu-receiver-dj-chark-bowl-game

The article basically is about DJ Chark being a stand up guy who scoffs at the notion of missing a bowl game to protect himself as an NFL prospect. All honour and lauds to him for doing so.

However, I'd like to say this to Arden Key, Corey Thompson, and Donnie Alexander: thanks so much for skipping the Citrus Bowl and leaving your team without three of its best defensive players.
Call me bitter, but I don't think Notre Dame would have been able to score a TD had you not pulled this selfish act and bothered to play for your team, who you let down over your paranoia of preserving your draft expectations.

The bigger question, though, is if the NCAA is going to try to do something about this, or if they will look the other way while players decide to ignore their commitment to their team in the pursuit of the brass ring. As the article says, it starts with a trickle. But now, agents are going to be suggesting this to Seniors and Juniors who look to be serious NFL prospects. How far will this be allowed to go?

I hope NFL teams attach this issue to negative character and a likeliness to be a bad locker room guy. But I also don't entirely fault them. I was shocked guice played. These guys have responsibilities that college doesn't pay for. But you are right... They let down their team and that alone is disgusting.

I think the saints should have Moreau on their minds if the big fella from Oklahoma doesn't fit into our plans.

 

[You]

Self preservation tends to win out.

As a college fan, I hate it.

Question; if they miss bowl games to preserve themselves, shouldn’t we expect that they’d take measures all year to preserve themselves?

 

[Trey W.]

While I to don’t like it, I do understand the reasoning. My question is “what can the NCAA, or Team actually do about it?”

It’s not like they can take away a game check. The only thing I can really think of would be altering their scholarship money somehow.

 

[zknotts61]

It’s not selfish. They are thinking about their future, perhaps having to provide for their children or other family members who may rely upon them.

Jaylon Smith lost about $20 million because of the bowl game.

If you were a top 15 pick, looking at all of that money that will be yours in a few months, you mean to tell me you would play in a meaningless bowl game? I wouldn’t. I see it like skipping your senior season. You’re ready to play in the NFL and there’s no need to play college football anymore.

 

[El Caliente]

Yeah, I don't like it, but I get it.

I saw Jake Butt go from a 1st round pick to being a mid round pick all because of the injury he sustained. If I was Butt, and that happened to me I would be upset, and curse the heavens, but he was leaving it out there for his school. Leaving it out there for your school is fine, but it doesn't get you any more of a boost than one who was selfish, during the draft process.

 

[Guido Merkins]

The prospect of being the Citrus Bowl Champion is not a reason to risk millions of dollars. Sorry. It's a 3rd tier bowl game. A great reward for those not headed to the NFL as early round picks, but meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

The non New Years 6 games are basically exhibitions. Get used to it. When the playoff expands, it'll be worse.

 

[Waymer]

A few random thoughts on the issue:

1. I just can't fault these kids for doing such a move. As the recent history of Jaylen Smith and Jake Butt have proven (and going back further there are more examples), a serious injury -- albeit it not necessarily likely -- can cost a player on the order of 5, 10, or 20 million on their first contract. That's not an insignificant chunk of change to say the least, even if a player goes on to earn a nice second contract. I can't imagine any of us sitting here typing this wouldn't take a sick day on the most important work day of the year if we were told that we might miss out on that type of money from a firm that was looking to hire us in a month.

2. Why do we hold football players to higher standards? Well, it's because we love football (hence why 99.8% of us are on this forum). But would we fault a musician at a music school if they quit on their team because they just hit it big and have to cash in on a world tour? Would we be upset if someone left the school newspaper to accept a job with Sports Illustrated or your magazine choice? So why do we get upset when football players do it? Isn't the goal of college to prepare an individual for a future career, regardless of what profession it is? Be it engineering, writing, or athletics? So why should we fault a kid for putting in the time and effort for 2.95 or 3.95 years or whatever, only to then shun them? If they are prepared for the next part of their life -- i.e. their primary career -- then why are we angry?

3. There's only one solution I see to addressing this. Money isn't going to do it, even if the NCAA started paying players. Because again, even if it was $50,000, that is far less than $20M. I think the only option is insurance. But it would have to be very, very generous insurance. The type of insurance that is hard to find. The type of insurance that basically says if you suffer any of the following injuries (X,Y,Z) and are not drafted in the Top ABC, then you get $25M. Policies that generous (I'm not just talking about falling out of the first round even), just don't come along for cheap. The premiums are high. The policy writers are reluctant, and it's just not easy...even though it's allowed by NCAA rules.

Really, I think it is what it is. And we as fans have to not only accept it, but embrace it. And for what it is worth, do we really care if a player skips the Sun Bowl or Music City Bowl or GoDaddy-TMZ-JohnDeere-ArubaDestinationClassic? No, because those are not important games in the national landscape. Frankly I just wait for the day when University Star QB decides to sit out the playoff game or even a junior season entirely. Then we'll be talking about true fan outrage. And while I'll be disappointed if it's my favorite team, I'll still understand and accept it.

 

[MLU]

Fournette didn't play due to injury. Why do people think this was the first time a player missed a bowl game due to injuries?

I don't know about Cory Thompson and Donnie Alexander, but Arden Key just had surgery on his fingers. No way they're healed enough for him to play without risk of further damage. That's not a draft thing. That's a quality of life thing. Having mangles fingers isn't going to drop him in the draft. Thompson has barely played this season at all. He's missed two seasons to injury, so I feel pretty comfortable in saying that he would have played if he had been able. Donnie Alexander missed half the season for one reason or another and the defense didn't miss him. Neither Thompson nor Alexander are expected to get drafted, much less miss out on millions if they were drafted due to the round they would be drafted in.

 

[You]

The prospect of being the Citrus Bowl Champion is not a reason to risk millions of dollars. Sorry. It's a 3rd tier bowl game. A great reward for those not headed to the NFL as early round picks, but meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

but where does a player draw the line on that type of thinking?
I mean a player needs to preserve their livelihood so why not play conservatively all year to avoid injury?

 

[someone]

They probably would have played had we been in the playoffs. If they didn't, then I'd be mad.

I actually think it's smart. Honestly, as a LSU fan it's championship or bust given the recruiting potential. I don't care if we win random bowl games. I hate bowl games anyways. There are way too many.

It also gives the younger guys on the team a chance to get their feet wet in a "big" game.



Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[triumph]

but where does a player draw the line on that type of thinking?
I mean a player needs to preserve their livelihood so why not play conservatively all year to avoid injury?

Didn't Jadeveon Clowney do just that? Wreck the Michigan RB in a memorable play, rev up the hype machine, uninspiring Senior season where he missed games?

 

[El Caliente]

Didn't Jadeveon Clowney do just that? Wreck the Michigan RB in a memorable play, rev up the hype machine, uninspiring Senior season where he missed games?

Indeed he did. I believe it was Vincent Smith.

 

[Saint Jack]

but where does a player draw the line on that type of thinking?
I mean a player needs to preserve their livelihood so why not play conservatively all year to avoid injury?

It gets 'em ready for the NFL. I know the college fans where the college program is the main attraction with no NFL teams around won't like this, but for the NFL caliber players, this is just practice. The NFL career is the main thing.

 

[texasjefe]

Texas had a ton of key graduating guys out of their bowl game, and they won.

Could not care less if guys want to skip a bowl. Can't blame them. Just gives more playing time to up and coming players. As important as or even more important than the bowl game itself are the 15 practices teams get.

Not an issue.

Now, if Minkah Fitzpatrick had decided to skip his bowl game...