Prospects sitting out bowl games

[smokeybandit]

Last year McCaffrey and Fournette made waves about sitting out their bowl games.

For this year, the only one I've seen make any kind of comment about it is Saquon Barkley, so said he was definitely playing in the bowl game.

[tom cody]

Good for him. I think all the prospects should play in the bowl games. To me they'd get more attention from playing in a bowl game and help their draft prospects than they would playing in a regular season game.

[CalhounLambeau]

1 hour ago, tom cody said:

Good for him. I think all the prospects should play in the bowl games. To me they'd get more attention from playing in a bowl game and help their draft prospects than they would playing in a regular season game.

The players that are sitting out are blue-chip prospects. They don't benefit from playing in the game. That's why they don't play. They have nothing to prove.

Johnny 4th Round Prospect isn't sitting out the Bowl.

[LaserFocus]

27 minutes ago, CalhounLambeau said:

The players that are sitting out are blue-chip prospects. They don't benefit from playing in the game. That's why they don't play. They have nothing to prove.

Johnny 4th Round Prospect isn't sitting out the Bowl.

Mitch Trubisky, Dalvin Cook, and other high picks didn't quit on their college teams. It's just the wrong message, and teams can easily limit the amount of action these players see in bowl games. Statistically, it's still extremely unusual for a high draft pick to be seriously hurt in these games. It's my understanding Fournette was dealing with a ankle injury, so that's different than a 100% healthy McCafferey bailing on his team. 

[Forge]

Highly rated prospects really should sit out anything other than the championship game when it comes to the bowl season. All of the other bowl games are glorified exhibition games and mean nothing.  It'd be like having the losers of the conference championship games in the NFL play another game after the loss against each other to see who "finishes" third. It is completely meaningless and there's no reason the a prospect should be risking millions of dollars for it. 

[ET80]

Only comparison I can make is this:

Let's say you are graduating college. You've made top grades, you're pretty much lined up for the last week. You get a phone call - a top company you're aiming to join wants to set up an interview, but they ask if you can come in on the day of your graduation ceremony. If you're just walking across the stage to get you degree, wouldn't the interview take priority? 

That's kind of how I see many of these bowl games - it really doesn't impact anything, unless you're playing for a National Title. The guys who are top rated players aren't upping their stock based on one single game, so why would you risk it outside of pride and/or pomp and circumstance?

[tyler735]

Unless colleges start paying their players to play, I see nothing wrong with a player sitting a bowl game, especially a bluechip guy like McCaffrey, Fournette, etc. They have proven all they need to at the college level, the only place their stock can go is down. Some people say it's "rare" to get injured in a bowl game, but that's the problem, the risk is still there even if it isn't common. It's a meaningless game, and could cost a prospect millions of dollars to play in an exhibition game, and unfortunately has for some prospects over the years. 

[CalhounLambeau]

3 hours ago, LaserFocus said:

So that's different than a 100% healthy McCafferey bailing on his team. 

McCaffrey carried that team on his back touching the ball 10,000 times during his final two seasons. Not one coach or teammate had anything negative to say about it. You can care more than his teammates did about it. I don't.

[Scoundrel]

14 minutes ago, CalhounLambeau said:

McCaffrey carried that team on his back touching the ball 10,000 times during his final two seasons. Not one coach or teammate had anything negative to say about it. You can care more than his teammates did about it. I don't.

10,000 times is a lot

[Forge]

51 minutes ago, tyler735 said:

Unless colleges start paying their players to play, I see nothing wrong with a player sitting a bowl game, especially a bluechip guy like McCaffrey, Fournette, etc. They have proven all they need to at the college level, the only place their stock can go is down. Some people say it's "rare" to get injured in a bowl game, but that's the problem, the risk is still there even if it isn't common. It's a meaningless game, and could cost a prospect millions of dollars to play in an exhibition game, and unfortunately has for some prospects over the years. 

It's strikes me as weird that we all know that it's a business, that we are okay with the NFL and NCAA treating it as a business, but then get upset with players for treating it like a business and protecting the only asset that they have (themselves) in a meaningless game. 

[tyler735]

11 minutes ago, Forge said:

It's strikes me as weird that we all know that it's a business, that we are okay with the NFL and NCAA treating it as a business, but then get upset with players for treating it like a business and protecting the only asset that they have (themselves) in a meaningless game. 

Exactly! Totally agree on that

[LaserFocus]

2 hours ago, Forge said:

Highly rated prospects really should sit out anything other than the championship game when it comes to the bowl season. All of the other bowl games are glorified exhibition games and mean nothing.  It'd be like having the losers of the conference championship games in the NFL play another game after the loss against each other to see who "finishes" third. It is completely meaningless and there's no reason the a prospect should be risking millions of dollars for it. 

Stanford's Sun Bowl game was anything but meaningless, and the other smaller bowl games are often significant for those programs. If you're not on that team, it can be difficult to understand these games aren't all exhibitions. When the Cardinal won that game at the end, the celebration was definitely not that of an exhibition. It's not just a business decision, and I would bet most people who played football would agree. Quitting on your team, coaching staff, and even the fans who traveled to the bowl is just a selfish act when it's done by a 100% healthy player.

 

1 hour ago, EliteTexan80 said:

Only comparison I can make is this:

Let's say you are graduating college. You've made top grades, you're pretty much lined up for the last week. You get a phone call - a top company you're aiming to join wants to set up an interview, but they ask if you can come in on the day of your graduation ceremony. If you're just walking across the stage to get you degree, wouldn't the interview take priority? 

That's kind of how I see many of these bowl games - it really doesn't impact anything, unless you're playing for a National Title. The guys who are top rated players aren't upping their stock based on one single game, so why would you risk it outside of pride and/or pomp and circumstance?

It's not a valid comparison, because a college graduate not playing team sports is a completely different situation. The risk is so tiny, but the rewards of finishing what you started are significant. Christian McCaffery has been a disappointment in the NFL, and I hope we don't see a trend of 100% healthy players quitting on their teams. I think everyone is missing the big picture here. How many very successful NFL players, and people outside sports, lost interest in competing at something? The top people love to compete, they realize it makes them better. In my opinion, bailing out is a selfish, cynical act.

 

27 minutes ago, CalhounLambeau said:

McCaffrey carried that team on his back touching the ball 10,000 times during his final two seasons. Not one coach or teammate had anything negative to say about it. You can care more than his teammates did about it. I don't.

Coaches and teammates aren't going to say anything negative about it, because of recruiting purposes. I have no doubt if we used lie detectors on everyone in Stanford's football program, they would be disappointed in McCaffery. 

[Forge]

Just now, LaserFocus said:

Stanford's Sun Bowl game was anything but meaningless, and the other smaller bowl games are often significant for those programs. If you're not on that team, it can be difficult to understand these games aren't all exhibitions. When the Cardinal won that game at the end, the celebration was definitely not that of an exhibition. It's not just a business decision, and I would bet most people who played football would agree. Quitting on your team, coaching staff, and even the fans who traveled to the bowl is just a selfish act when it's done by a 100% healthy player.

So tell me how it wasn't an exhibition? It was the sun bowl. Sure, the players are excited to win the game, they should be...that doesn't mean that it's anything more important than it is in the grand scheme of things, particularly to an individual player. I wouldn't risk millions of dollars for the freaking sun bowl. This "game" is a business. 

Quote

Coaches and teammates aren't going to say anything negative about it, because of recruiting purposes. I have no doubt if we used lie detectors on everyone in Stanford's football program, they would be disappointed in McCaffery.  

That's all well and good. Most of them aren't risking millions of dollars, are they? Whether you want to take that risk is an individual decision. Some may be okay playing, some may not. It's not fair to begrudge them their decision when they are treating it for exactly what it is - a business. They are the ones risking that money. I'm not, you're not, most of those teammates aren't, those coaches aren't. Solomon Thomas was okay with it, McCaffrey wasn't. That's fine. It shouldn't be about anything more than that. 

[Scoundrel]

The fans aren't paying you in college football, you owe them nothing. The program makes so much money off of you. McCaffrey gave them so much of himself. At the end of the day all we have is ourselves. Are those same fans or teammates he let down going to make up the difference in his salary if he tears an acl in that bowl game and drops in the draft? No they aren't. 

[ET80]

4 minutes ago, LaserFocus said:

It's not a valid comparison, because a college graduate not playing team sports is a completely different situation

How so? If anything, the risk of injury makes sitting a much safer option for athletes. As a college graduate, I'm not going to slip and fall while I'm graduating and forget all of my Accounting. As a college athlete, it's completely feasible that I blow out a knee and completely ruin my draft stock.

7 minutes ago, LaserFocus said:

The risk is so tiny, but the rewards of finishing what you started are significant.

Such as? If they're significant, you should be able to label then out. I see nothing more than pride and/or pomp and circumstance. "Reward of finishing" is nothing more than pride, and when you weigh it against the potential of millions of dollars lost, it's much more than a tiny risk.

10 minutes ago, LaserFocus said:

How many very successful NFL players, and people outside sports, lost interest in competing at some

It's not losing interest. It's making a calculated decision to avoid risk.