There is a lot of debate in this year's Football College Bowl season, however, the debate is more about the players that will not be on the field, as opposed to those that will be. Christian MacCaffrey and Leonard Fournette made the business decision to sit out their team’s respected bowl games to preserve their future financial gain, while preparing for the upcoming NFL draft. This decision has the sports world up in arms questioning heart and loyalty. What do you think? Is there history that shows this is a smart move? Has the College Playoff made it easier for a decision like this to be made for future athletes? You be the judge.
Looking at it from a fan of football or a specific school's fan and the schools feel that they are receiving the short end of the stick. When players sign scholarships to specific schools, they are agreeing that in exchange for playing football, the school will provide full tuition, room and board, and the opportunity for the player to fully attend classes while at the institution. This is the athlete's first “legally binding contract” right? To put simply when these kids are 18-year-old seniors in high school, they sign a contract with these schools “pay for play”; the pay is a college education and the play explains itself. For the education alone that these athletes can get, would that be enough for those players, like so many before them, to get their overwhelming loyalty to the program and school? Why now are players sitting out? Could there be another side to this story?
Let's flash back to the National Championship 2002: Ohio State vs Miami, running back with just under twelve minutes left to play in the fourth quarter on a screen pass Willis McGahee was hit low by a clean tackle. What resulted for McGahee was a torn ACL, MCL, and PCL and the running back fell from what many thought was a Top 5 pick to 23rd. Which, still makes him a first round pick, but at the cost of millions of dollars. Fast forward now to 2015, Fiesta Bowl Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith gets hurt in the first quarter of the game. The injury: torn ligaments in the knee, the cost being drafted in the first round and close to 14 million dollars. With all of that being, said we know injuries are a part of the game and as cruel of a game as football sometimes can be, is it just your time to stop playing. To sit out a bowl game though? Are there other reasons why, as fans of the game, we should consider before crucifying these players for making this decision?
Players look and think in the here and now, so injuries and avoiding them, are obviously an easy way to say a player is soft or not loyal. How about when a coach does the same thing to the team he coached all season and then foregoes a bowl game because they are taking another job? Four coaches this bowl season have left their current coaching jobs before the team's bowl game was played to take other jobs. Willie Taggart went from South Florida to Oregon, Tom Herman from Houston to Texas, Jeff Brohm from Western Kentucky to Purdue, Matt Rhule from Temple to Baylor. This has been a long running tradition, it happens every year and is an accepted part of the game, but now that players are doing it as well, is it less about business and more about lack of interest? Has the college football playoff as good as it is had a trickle-down effect on the importance of other Bowl games such as the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl? What does this mean for the playoff and bowl games in seasons to come?
The College Football Playoff in Nick Saban's eyes is a big part to blame for this move by players to forego playing to protect the investment, their bodies. When asked about players not playing in bowl games, Saban had this to say "I think when we created the playoff, which all of you wanted to do and all of you wanted to make it four teams, and now all of you want to make it eight teams, and then soon all you guys are going to want to make it 16 teams, the only focus is on the playoff," Saban said. "But when we all started this, however many years ago it was, I said that you're going to diminish the importance of other bowl games in college football, which has happened. All anybody talks about is the playoff. We have a whole bunch of other bowl games that people don't think are all that important. So, if you don't think it's important, all of a sudden, the players don't think it's important. So, you can't really blame the players.” Coach Saban is right on the money with this quote, we saw earlier this season how quickly question marks can surface in the playoff debate. There was a legitimate argument for at least the top 6 teams to be in and calls to expand the playoff system. There has also been a notable drop in attendance at games that are not featured in the playoffs. All of this plus the injury factor why would you risk the potential of financial and professional growth for a bowl game that has been labeled as second fiddle or not as important? There is not a person out there that would pass on an opportunity to be financially sound by risking injury.
All of this together, let me be clear, I do not agree or as a fan want to see this become the normal, but I fully understand where these players are coming from. The unfortunate is for players like Jabrill Peppers. All reports indicate that Peppers 100% intended to play in Michigan’s loss to Florida State. Unfortunately, Peppers suffered a pulled hamstring at Thursday's practice and there just was not enough time for him to heal to play at the level where he felt he would be a help. Still with him making the game time decision not to play question marks have been raised about him and his commitment to his craft. Regardless this is a new era of college football player, they are aware of their potential worth and the amount of money that is generated because of them. This is an educated era that know that “loyalty” only goes so far. At the end of the day they must do what's best for them and their families, and can you blame them? We may not like it but it is part of what the game has become? What do you think?
Written by:
Carlo Guadagnino
http://cguadagn.wixsite.com/carlo-guadagnino
Edited by:
Alaina Roberts
Daniel Bishop M.A.
References:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/sports/colleges/should-players-skip-college-bowl-games-yes-and-no/2017/01/01/e78250ea-cfb1-11e6-b8a2-8c2a61b0436f_story.html?client=safari
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2016/12/26/not-playing-bowl-game-just-smart-business/06xomnQ8li8SaWSDTecAIM/amp.html?client=safari
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http://m.truthdig.com/report/item/choosing_not_to_play_in_bowl_games_revolt_in_college_football_20161228
http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2016/12/26/doyel-dont-hate-players-skipping-bowls-hate-bowl-system/95849014/
https://www.google.com/amp/www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/agents-take-sorry-zeke-but-top-nfl-prospects-skipping-bowls-is-smart/amp/?client=safari
https://www.google.com/amp/www.al.com/articles/19864898/nick_saban_blames_advent_of_cf.amp?client=safari
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