Link: Christian McCaffrey Declines to Participate in Bowl Game

KrAzY3 said:

Keyshawn Johnson has as well. And Brock Huard. I haven't sought out the opinions of former players, but I haven't heard any of them applaud the choice yet.

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Wes Neighbors has a big problem with it.


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CajunCrimson said:

And he doesn't love them now?

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Says who? You may be asking, what changed? The answer is pretty clear - the immediacy of the draft. He is finished with classes and moving on to draft day preparation instead of bowl game preparation. Nothing else has changed.

Perfect example of the "Me" millennial mindset...that was taught them by us boomers! Team is important, but not as important as "Me." (#2 priority at best.) I have to do what I believe is right for me...regardless of impact on others. Great loss of the sense of communal importance...

One day he will look back and realize what he lost...at some level the respect of a "team" where you join in together to work for a common goal. Football is the ultimate team game -- most players do not touch the ball. Would he have said the same if he were an offensive lineman?

The times they are a'changing...I apologize if this has been touched on before in this thread...I have been out of town and I did not read 13 pages of discussion.

Padreruf said:

Perfect example of the "Me" millennial mindset...that was taught them by us boomers! Team is important, but not as important as "Me." (#2 priority at best.) I have to do what I believe is right for me...regardless of impact on others. Great loss of the sense of communal importance...

One day he will look back and realize what he lost...at some level the respect of a "team" where you join in together to work for a common goal. Football is the ultimate team game -- most players do not touch the ball. Would he have said the same if he were an offensive lineman?

The times they are a'changing...I apologize if this has been touched on before in this thread...I have been out of town and I did not read 13 pages of discussion.

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An outsiders view of the current day US in general (not just sports) would, I imagine, relate very closely with this. Strangely I was using the same basic explanation to illustrate to a friend the differences on these boards to those of the soccer forums we both belong to over here.

For what its worth I still have an issue with the non-payment of players, but it is precisely this effective amateur status that allows them to make these decisions for themselves. As the rewards for success (success being a professional contract) increase the likelihood that more players will make similar decisions also increase.

A professional contract that sets out appearance requirements at the start of the season for minimal financial reward may not be the worst way forward?

RWBTide said:

An outsiders view of the current day US in general (not just sports) would, I imagine, relate very closely with this. Strangely I was using the same basic explanation to illustrate to a friend the differences on these boards to those of the soccer forums we both belong to over here.

For what its worth I still have an issue with the non-payment of players, but it is precisely this effective amateur status that allows them to make these decisions for themselves. As the rewards for success (success being a professional contract) increase the likelihood that more players will make similar decisions also increase.

A professional contract that sets out appearance requirements at the start of the season for minimal financial reward may not be the worst way forward?

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Well, contracts can and will be bought out if it CFB were to go that route.

KrAzY3 said:

Keyshawn Johnson has as well. And Brock Huard. I haven't sought out the opinions of former players, but I haven't heard any of them applaud the choice yet.

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Forgot Brock's stance on it. Haven't heard Keyshawn this week.

I've seen many more former players supporting it than those against it. Maybe the sports journalists all like it, so they are primarily reporting the ones that support it, which is why that's what I've seen.

dooger said:

Given the response, we (consumers/fans) are then relegated to back teams playing in bowl games intended only to be the outlet for advertising. I understand that part. I'm familiar with sports marketing and how the metrics work and the importance of visibility for a brand, service or product. If the only bowl games are mediocre/poor teams, most with winning records, what motivates the fan to watch games and move the needle for the advertisers? This is a "process" spiraling out of control and could have a dismal future. Why go to college? Why not just have semi-pro teams? Pay the players (legally)? We will lose the value of the association of the universities with the sport(s). This is a bad precedent. And, my suspicion is that Coach Saban is preaching the benefits of education and recruiting players he knows will only play 3 years and never FINISH. Hypocrisy at it's best. And, yes, I'm a Bama fan.

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Ok I have to stop you right there. First of all, Why is Saban being brought into this? what does any of this have to do with Saban? Isn't CNS the same guy that was saying players shouldn't be paying attention to draft status while the college football season is still going on? secondly, Saban has always stressed the importance of getting an education. I could be wrong, but I think Alabama's APR and player graduation rate has been incredibly high since CNS has been here. lastly, just because CNS is not naïve enough to think all of his players are going to stay for all 4 years. It doesn't make him a hypocrite for stressing the importance of education while at the same time recruiting NFL potential talent that is most likely only going to stay for 3 years . (if that is what you are implying, Not saying it is). What is he supposed to do? Tell players that they shouldn't go out and pursue potential millions of dollars and potentially hurt that player's future if they can go high enough in the draft? You know they can always come back and finish their degree. Or is he just not supposed to preach the importance of education because a portion of his team will forgo graduating? As many players that Alabama is putting in the NFL these days, Not everyone is going to the pros. So yeah those other guys who won't make it the pro's. Their future is kind of important too.

RTR91 said:

Forgot Brock's stance on it. Haven't heard Keyshawn this week.

I've seen many more former players supporting it than those against it. Maybe the sports journalists all like it, so they are primarily reporting the ones that support it, which is why that's what I've seen.

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That's entirely possible. I listened to the Finebaum fill-in make patently false statements. For example, he suggested that McCaffrey would only get 1 million for a career ending injury (the actual number is 5, tax free, and of course he could purchase more insurance). I think we've learned long ago that the media in general has no problem with promoting their viewpoint at the expense of objectivity.

I saw Richt came down pretty strongly against skipping.
http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...-critical-players-skipping-college-bowl-games

Bamabuzzard said:

College football is a business and is a potential life changing business for athletes with NFL talent. Considering the amount of money being made by adults on the backs of college kids. I have no problem with this. Kids with NFL talent have the opportunity to sign one contract and be set for life or be put in a position to be WAAAAY ahead of the game financially. Even those who are drafted in the later rounds. The amount of money they get is still significantly more than the average joe schmoe entering the workforce with a college degree in tote.





http://heavy.com/sports/2016/04/nfl...ch-worth-rookie-player-2016-first-round-make/

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I agree, BB, that this is the truth but doesn't mean I have to like it

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsport...st-to-join-parade-of-rbs-skipping-bowl-games/

Another choosing not to participate.

My business side tells me he is doing the right thing but my team player side tells me he is letting his team down.

Royce Freeman, a really good back in my opinion, is returning for his Senior year at Oregon. Like I've said earlier, I think the circumstances related to LF and McCaff not playing their bowl game is connected to guys like Royce coming back to improve their draft stock. The NFL rookie contract money cliff...this is the motivator, not the "meaningless" bowls that have been mostly meaningless for all my lifetime anyway.

dvldog said:

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsport...st-to-join-parade-of-rbs-skipping-bowl-games/

Another choosing not to participate.

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I think this was more or less a in-fight with the coaching staff. He's had issues all season.

I love the bowl season and I watch a lot of them on TV because, 1) I have more downtime around the holidays than any other time of the year; 2) I prefer watching college football (even games between mediocre 7-5 or 6-6 teams) over just about anything else on TV; and, 3) I enjoy watching teams and players I haven't seen all season (our college football Saturdays in the regular season are almost exclusively planned around the Tide games and simply don't watch many other regular season games).

I believe in the positive impact of the bowl season because of the economic benefits that the related travel and tourism provide to host communities and in the rewards and experiences it provides to the student-athletes.

But all that said, I wonder if the bowl system isn't in an unstoppable decline. There are so many games/slots to be filled these days that it diminishes the value of the "reward" when 5-7 and 6-6 can play in bowls year after year and the novelty clearly wears off. Many of the teams simply don't have large enough fan bases with the disposable funds to travel to all of those games.

And, psychologically, I think the creation of the college football playoff system has relegated the rest of the bowls to an unspoken "second-tier" or "exhibition" status to an extent not seen in the BCS era or before. It is probably inevitable that the escalating "exhibition" mentality will lead more and more players with immediate plans to enter the NFL Draft to skip the games, and there is probably little that can be done about it. Maybe if the individual player awards (includes the Heisman) weren't selected until after the season/playoffs it would encourage more players to play. I just don't know.

I seem to remember Julio suiting up against Michigan State in a bowl that meant nothing after being banged up all year and even playing after the S Carolina game with a plate in his hand. Mark Ingram and several other draft worthy players as well. IDK

As to the notion of the bowls being in decline because there are so many, I wonder, is this really true? Think about it. Sure, some of these bowls have teams with poor records, but those games didn't even exist before. The best bowls - the bowls that have been around since my child hood - still have match-ups of very good teams with very good W/L records, and those bowls all get great ratings.

Maybe some of the lesser bowls are diminished as a result of having so many lesser bowls, but the big bowls are still much beloved by players, coaches and fans.

Pretty much agree with coach. I don't like it but I understand why some players will choose to sit..

I just disagree with Saban here. He's looking at it with a very narrow lens. As I've said a few times in this topic, the pressure isn't the playoff and devaluation of the bowls. Maybe the playoffs helped to expedite the normalization of the habit but this was going to start happening as soon as a big time prospect got hurt in a bowl and felt the reality of the new rookie contract pay scale...whether there was a playoff or just a BCSCG. Heck, by having 4 teams with championship goals we probably increase the number of top athletes playing instead of sitting out.