Why do players opt out?

[OSUTideFan]

I said my piece. I refuse to call players quitters--like Pickett/Walker---who prioritize their careers over what's best for a university football team.

They quit their team when they prioritized their careers over what’s best for their university football team. This team that gave them a full ride scholarship, priceless experience, exposure, strength training and health care. Not to mention opportunity.

 

[MizzTide20]

Simple fix… if a student opts out of a bowl game (which I have no issue with them doing. They are doing what they think is best) then that student forfeits their ability to participate in the schools Pro Day, has no access to schools weight room, doesn’t get the swag that’s given to alumni,etc… with decisions there is consequences.

 

[B1GTide]

Simple fix… if a student opts out of a bowl game (which I have no issue with them doing. They are doing what they think is best) then that student forfeits their ability to participate in the schools Pro Day, has no access to schools weight room, doesn’t get the swag that’s given to alumni,etc… with decisions there is consequences.

That seems reasonable, but remember that the NFL draft brings a huge amount of prestige to the school as well as the player.

 

[skipster63]

Goes back to Willis McGahee. Got injured and would have been a first round draft choice.

 

[Windsortide]

Agents are telling them their is a high risk of injury. If they play they could be jeopardizing millions of dollars.

 

[Windsortide]

We also see it at the high school level. Kids commit or sign a scholarship and the school advises them to drop their other sport to reduce the risk of injury unless it is a sport like track.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

It’s risk management, and I can’t blame a player for not risking generational money for a Poulan-Weed-Eater Independence Bowl, or similar.

But it’s a matter of time before one opts out of a CFP game. Will be especially true if the playoff is expanded to 12-16 teams, and the player is on a low-seeded team.

The discussion then will be interesting.

 

[TideEngineer08]

Goes back to Willis McGahee. Got injured and would have been a first round draft choice.

Yeah but that was a national championship game. Plus, McGahee actually went on to a pretty good NFL career for a RB. But I realize he may have had a generational career were it not for the injury.

The thing is, career ending injuries can also happen against Western Carolina in November. Yet they play that game.

 

[CrimsonTheory]

They quit their team when they prioritized their careers over what’s best for their university football team. This team that gave them a full ride scholarship, priceless experience, exposure, strength training and health care. Not to mention opportunity.

Yeah these players were giving full ride scholarships, etc, but that is a drop in the bucket to how much money these university make off these players.

Like I said, I am not going to use the word "quit" with these players. I think that word is too harsh. Quit makes it sound like these players just up and walked away from their teammates without so much as a second thought. Opting out of an exhibition game, bowl game does not make them a "quitter" in my eyes.

I guess we have to agree to disagree about what makes a "quitter" in college football.

 

[colbysullivan]

Something Josh Pate said on his 247Sports live show struck me as rather poignant. I think we (the fans) created this mess, or at the very least heavily contributed to it. I'm paraphrasing here, but he basically said players only started opting out after fans started using the term "meaningless bowl game". Yes, the playoffs are somewhat, if not mostly, to blame for this but the fans have made it worse. By saying a bowl game is "meaningless", the fans have basically told the players "this game doesn't mean anything, so it doesn't matter if you play or not". I think there's something to that.

Also, if you haven't checked out his show on YouTube, he is one of the best college football analysts/commentators around.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Agents are telling them their is a high risk of injury. If they play they could be jeopardizing millions of dollars.

They could have gotten hurt at any point this year.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

Something Josh Pate said on his 247Sports live show struck me as rather poignant. I think we (the fans) created this mess, or at the very least heavily contributed to it. I'm paraphrasing here, but he basically said players only started opting out after fans started using the term "meaningless bowl game". Yes, the playoffs are somewhat, if not mostly, to blame for this but the fans have made it worse. By saying a bowl game is "meaningless", the fans have basically told the players "this game doesn't mean anything, so it doesn't matter if you play or not". I think there's something to that.

Also, if you haven't checked out his show on YouTube, he is one of the best college football analysts/commentators around.

Fans didn't make the bowl games meaningless the playoffs and amount of bowl games did that. The system is set up this way. Plus add in early signing day and coaches leaving early because of that also probably had an impact.

The system right now encourages opting out IMO. If you care enough to stop it then there probably need to be some not insignificant changes to a few things.

 

[colbysullivan]

Fans didn't make the bowl games meaningless the playoffs and amount of bowl games did that.

Please read my post again. I never said fans made the bowls meaningless. In fact, I said the playoffs was to blame. The fans just made it worse.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

Please read my post again. I never said fans made the bowls meaningless. In fact, I said the playoffs was to blame. The fans just made it worse.

Fair enough. I just don't think it really came from fans

 

[colbysullivan]

Fair enough. I just don't think it really came from fans

Oh for sure, the playoffs did this, and the BCS as well. The fans have just “bought in” to the idea that the bowl games are meaningless.

 

[Windsortide]

They could have gotten hurt at any point this year.

Many are playing with nagging or lingering injuries also requiring them to shut it down.

 

[Elefantman]

Will opting out an entire season become more common?

They Opted Out of College Football—and Became NFL Stars

Players like Ja’Marr Chase and Micah Parsons gave up their final college seasons during the first year of the pandemic. Then they emerged as the biggest rookie sensations in the pros.

www.wsj.com

Players have opted out of bowl games at the end of the season for several years. It wasn’t hard to figure out why. They weren’t getting paid, they risked injury and they felt they had little left to prove to NFL teams before the draft. This season’s college football national championship was yet another cautionary tale, when Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams, a potential first-round pick, went down with a gruesome knee injury.

“It’s just ideal,” says Gary Scheffler, who has trained Chase since the eighth grade. “Everything and every decision that Ja’Marr Chase and his family has made along the way has been done strategically, and it’s been done perfectly.”

 

[CB4]

Will opting out an entire season become more common?

They Opted Out of College Football—and Became NFL Stars

Players like Ja’Marr Chase and Micah Parsons gave up their final college seasons during the first year of the pandemic. Then they emerged as the biggest rookie sensations in the pros.

www.wsj.com

Maybe not for an entire season but I could see situations where, when the hopes of conference championships are dashed or chances for the CFP are no longer possible, players opt out with several games left in the season more and more frequent.

 

[Elefantman]

Now with NIL, players can make enough money to support their independent training efforts for a year while they wait for the draft.

 

[bamacon]

My views have changed on it just like football has changed. The university treats the student-athletes like employees (which really they are) just like the NFL. Why should we be surprised when they act like that now?