Top players every year are sitting out their school's bowl games more and more to prevent injuries that may hurt their future careers. It looks like bowl games are looked at more and more as exhibitions that don't mean much.

I love postseason football, and personally hate to see players sit out their bowl games, but I can see why players like Will Grier would do it.

What's a good way to get players to stay for postseason football in college. Larger playoffs would help obviously. But what about schools that feel like there's no hope for a Natty?

Maybe in the near future NFL stars will sit out the Super Bowl -- because something might happen that hurts their lucrative endorsement deals!

I could foresee a day that players become so self-protective/selfish that those even playing for a NC may opt out in preparation for the NFL.

No.

BearlyBeloved said:

---

Maybe in the near future NFL stars will sit out the Super Bowl -- because something might happen that hurts their lucrative endorsement deals!

---

I know you are only partially kidding, but a better example would be the pro bowl, and many players do sit it out for that exact reason - it's a meaningless exhibition game.

Timbear said:

---

Bowl games mean a lot. They keep the team practicing, they help lock in recruits, they keep the team in the news, they can give the next year a great start and they contribute toward earning respect. Dad gum right a bowl game means something .

---

Exactly. They do mean something for any FBS football program. It stinks some sit out because of potential draft status, but for the team as a whole, it is very important and means something.

No. Bowl games will soon be gone once the playoffs expand and pressure continues within large corporate America to reduce extaneous expenses such as these.

The Fiesta and Cotton Bowl losses still sting this many years later....so they mean something to me as a fan...and I suspect the players as well.

Thee University said:

---

I believe any player this selfish and willing to leave his teammates on an island when they obviously were a major reason a team even makes a bowl should have to pay back his final year on campus tuition, fees, etc. His future NFL contract will not suffer as this will be a pittance.

Any player who does this demonstrates for the world to see their true dedication to our alma mater, their teammates, their coaches and alumni footing the bill. This is just another continuation of the downfall of college athletics,

---

You. Me. Simpatico.

BaseballBear1108 said:

---

Top players every year are sitting out their school's bowl games more and more to prevent injuries that may hurt their future careers. It looks like bowl games are looked at more and more as exhibitions that don't mean much.

I love postseason football, and personally hate to see players sit out their bowl games, but I can see why players like Will Grier would do it.

What's a good way to get players to stay for postseason football in college. Larger playoffs would help obviously. But what about schools that feel like there's no hope for a Natty?

---

I am more disappointed in Will Grier than I am Ed Oliver. I am just not sure why that is. Really I understand it but can't wrap my hands around leaving your teammates.

I think bowl games are great, but somewhere around 80 out of 130 teams are playing in them, so they should probably cut that down to 64 or less teams. Also a playoff would not be too bad. But if these dudes are afraid to get injured during a vowl game, how would they feel about playing 3 or 4 games in a playoff system? Even more risk for injury!

Thee University said:

---

I believe any player this selfish and willing to leave his teammates on an island when they obviously were a major reason a team even makes a bowl should have to pay back his final year on campus tuition, fees, etc. His future NFL contract will not suffer as this will be a pittance.

Any player who does this demonstrates for the world to see their true dedication to our alma mater, their teammates, their coaches and alumni footing the bill. This is just another continuation of the downfall of college athletics,

---

The colleges use unpaid labor (players) to bring in millions of dollars every year, but the players are "selfish" because they want to protect their bodies and skills for when they are actually valued, because they certainly aren't when they are in college.

As much as I like to rep my alma mater, you calling this the downfall of college athletics might actually be a good thing. Let's take the sports that make major money for athletes (football, basketball, baseball) out of college and place them where they should have been all along in a farm system. Then colleges can get back to doing what they are supposed to be doing, educating students,

I'm skipping the Texas Bowl because I know Sports Illustrated is going to be calling me any day now.

EvilTroyAndAbed said:

---

Thee University said:

---

I believe any player this selfish and willing to leave his teammates on an island when they obviously were a major reason a team even makes a bowl should have to pay back his final year on campus tuition, fees, etc. His future NFL contract will not suffer as this will be a pittance.

Any player who does this demonstrates for the world to see their true dedication to our alma mater, their teammates, their coaches and alumni footing the bill. This is just another continuation of the downfall of college athletics,

---

The colleges use unpaid labor (players) to bring in millions of dollars every year, but the players are "selfish" because they want to protect their bodies and skills for when they are actually valued, because they certainly aren't when they are in college.

As much as I like to rep my alma mater, you calling this the downfall of college athletics might actually be a good thing. Let's take the sports that make major money for athletes (football, basketball, baseball) out of college and place them where they should have been all along in a farm system. Then colleges can get back to doing what they are supposed to be doing, educating students,

---

The players are "paid" in the form of an education. 95+% of the kids on scholarship don't go to the NFL. They SHOULD be gaining an education and life skills. What is a Baylor education worth today? $250K? $300K? Invaluable? They SHOULD be concerned primarily staying eligible (easy to do today) and learning something that they can use when they finish up their 4 or 5 years on campus.

As to your last paragraph, we are either headed that direction or the non blueblood schools are going to start severely cutting back on the athletics and do what they originally were intended to do.

GrumpyBear said:

---

Thee University said:

---

I believe any player this selfish and willing to leave his teammates on an island when they obviously were a major reason a team even makes a bowl should have to pay back his final year on campus tuition, fees, etc. His future NFL contract will not suffer as this will be a pittance.

Any player who does this demonstrates for the world to see their true dedication to our alma mater, their teammates, their coaches and alumni footing the bill. This is just another continuation of the downfall of college athletics,

---

Blah, blah, blah.

Uphill in the snow both ways.

Things were so much better in my glory years.

Kids these days.

You're a miserable human being.

---

At least I did not call myself grumpy grumpy. I'm happy. No, I'm ______ing ecstatic!!!!!!!

I'm an honest human being trying to help you out of the swamp. I'm not going to give up on you.

PacificBear said:

---

I'd only like to see 8 + win teams in bowls. 6 wins should not get you squat.

---

Agree

Grumpy said:

---

I could foresee a day that players become so self-protective/selfish that those even playing for a NC may opt out in preparation for the NFL.

---

I don't see sitting out a bowl game as selfish. At least not any more selfish then so many bowl games and adding both an extra regular season game and a conference championship.

Thee University said:

---

I believe any player this selfish and willing to leave his teammates on an island when they obviously were a major reason a team even makes a bowl should have to pay back his final year on campus tuition, fees, etc. His future NFL contract will not suffer as this will be a pittance.

Any player who does this demonstrates for the world to see their true dedication to our alma mater, their teammates, their coaches and alumni footing the bill. This is just another continuation of the downfall of college athletics,

---

Them days are long gone. You're asking for a one way dedication. In fact, you're suggesting players should be loyal while coaches will sign a player one day and take another job the next.

It was nice when it was different but is getting hurt in a meaningless bowl game worth it.

If we get back to 20 bowl games, we can talk.

Thee University said:

---

EvilTroyAndAbed said:

---

Thee University said:

---

I believe any player this selfish and willing to leave his teammates on an island when they obviously were a major reason a team even makes a bowl should have to pay back his final year on campus tuition, fees, etc. His future NFL contract will not suffer as this will be a pittance.

Any player who does this demonstrates for the world to see their true dedication to our alma mater, their teammates, their coaches and alumni footing the bill. This is just another continuation of the downfall of college athletics,

---

The colleges use unpaid labor (players) to bring in millions of dollars every year, but the players are "selfish" because they want to protect their bodies and skills for when they are actually valued, because they certainly aren't when they are in college.

As much as I like to rep my alma mater, you calling this the downfall of college athletics might actually be a good thing. Let's take the sports that make major money for athletes (football, basketball, baseball) out of college and place them where they should have been all along in a farm system. Then colleges can get back to doing what they are supposed to be doing, educating students,

---

The players are "paid" in the form of an education. 95+% of the kids on scholarship don't go to the NFL. They SHOULD be gaining an education and life skills. What is a Baylor education worth today? $250K? $300K? Invaluable? They SHOULD be concerned primarily staying eligible (easy to do today) and learning something that they can use when they finish up their 4 or 5 years on campus.

As to your last paragraph, we are either headed that direction or the non blueblood schools are going to start severely cutting back on the athletics and do what they originally were intended to do.

---

That is 100% true. I completely agree that having a 4 year degree is huge for future athletes but that's not how players think. In college, I would have taken a pack of gum and left before getting my degree to have the slightest change of getting the opportunity to play at the next level. So I would say good luck convincing athletes who are right on the brink of possibly going pro. You have to create an incentive to play that's more than playing for "pride."

As a Will Grier, why risk millions for a degree you could go back and get in 3 years? I'm not asking if bowl games are meaningful to fan bases and alums. I'm asking about the players, and how stop this trend of "meaningless" games.

Stranger said:

---

No.

---

. You know nothing about football madam.

The "this degree is worth so-and-so" talking point is so old lol. It's 2018, when a vast majority of people have degrees, simply having one guarantees you nothing. Maybe when you were in school a degree automatically meant you'd get a "great" paying job, but the times have changed.

When schools encourage athletes to not declare majors that will lead to these high paying jobs in favor of one in which they are more likely to remain eligible, are they really being helped?

I hate fans calling players selfish, when they are only doing so for their own selfish reasons. You just want them to win a game, they are thinking about their future. You don't have to worry about your career potentially ending (although I know the career-ending injuries in bowl games are low) why fault a kid for doing what they deem as best for themselves?

Besides the CFP bowl games, none of them mean ANYthing at all. They are exhibition games that these bowl committees use to bring in extra cash; I hope you don't believe otherwise. If that wasn't the case, then we'd see a cut back on bowl and expansion of the CFP.

Sometimes we let our fandom blind us. Although you want to see your team win, a player choosing to sit out an exhibition game should not lead to you calling them selfish. Do you know if they talked to their teammates before making said decision? It's not good to assume we know how their teammates feel.

We need to take a step back as fans and do some soul-searching; sometimes players act in their own interest, as we ALL do, and it's neither right nor wrong of them to make these decisions when it's THEIR future on the line and not ours. I can assure you if said player doesn't go on to have a good-great NFL career, you'll care less about what they are doing with their life...but hey, at least they won us that post-season exhibition game

BaseballBear1108 said:

---

Thee University said:

---

EvilTroyAndAbed said:

---

Thee University said:

---

I believe any player this selfish and willing to leave his teammates on an island when they obviously were a major reason a team even makes a bowl should have to pay back his final year on campus tuition, fees, etc. His future NFL contract will not suffer as this will be a pittance.

Any player who does this demonstrates for the world to see their true dedication to our alma mater, their teammates, their coaches and alumni footing the bill. This is just another continuation of the downfall of college athletics,

---

The colleges use unpaid labor (players) to bring in millions of dollars every year, but the players are "selfish" because they want to protect their bodies and skills for when they are actually valued, because they certainly aren't when they are in college.

As much as I like to rep my alma mater, you calling this the downfall of college athletics might actually be a good thing. Let's take the sports that make major money for athletes (football, basketball, baseball) out of college and place them where they should have been all along in a farm system. Then colleges can get back to doing what they are supposed to be doing, educating students,

---

The players are "paid" in the form of an education. 95+% of the kids on scholarship don't go to the NFL. They SHOULD be gaining an education and life skills. What is a Baylor education worth today? $250K? $300K? Invaluable? They SHOULD be concerned primarily staying eligible (easy to do today) and learning something that they can use when they finish up their 4 or 5 years on campus.

As to your last paragraph, we are either headed that direction or the non blueblood schools are going to start severely cutting back on the athletics and do what they originally were intended to do.

---

That is 100% true. I completely agree that having a 4 year degree is huge for future athletes but that's not how players think. In college, I would have taken a pack of gum and left before getting my degree to have the slightest change of getting the opportunity to play at the next level. So I would say good luck convincing athletes who are right on the brink of possibly going pro. You have to create an incentive to play that's more than playing for "pride."

As a Will Grier, why risk millions for a degree you could go back and get in 3 years? I'm not asking if bowl games are meaningful to fan bases and alums. I'm asking about the players, and how stop this trend of "meaningless" games.

---

Honestly there may not be a way, at least in terms of players that are destined to be high round draft picks. You have said it yourself, why risk millions? What could a school honestly do to offset that?

Obviously the coaches can try to convince them otherwise, but if their mind is made up I won't begrudge them the right to consider their own future livelihood.

As has already been stated in this thread, the true value in bowl games is exposure and extra practice time. I'm sorry Jalen Hurd won't be able to play due to injury and I think he is the type that would have if he was healthy as he could still benefit from exposure at the WR position. But if you want to look for a positive note the staff can spend all those extra practices and reps on receivers that will be here next year.

The incentive for other seniors is either something personal as far as feeling a connection to the team, wanting to play one last time, etc. or looking for an opportunity to shine one last time so that maybe they will have an opportunity to play at the next level or raise their draft stock.

But for someone who is virtually guaranteed at a certain draft position no matter the outcome of the bowl game, the name Willis McGahee is undoubtedly in the back of their mind and honestly mentioned by family and "advisors".

bernard_legoat said:

---

The "this degree is worth so-and-so" talking point is so old lol. It's 2018, when a vast majority of people have degrees, simply having one guarantees you nothing. Maybe when you were in school a degree automatically meant you'd get a "great" paying job, but the times have changed.

When schools encourage athletes to not declare majors that will lead to these high paying jobs in favor of one in which they are more likely to remain eligible, are they really being helped?

I hate fans calling players selfish, when they are only doing so for their own selfish reasons. You just want them to win a game, they are thinking about their future. You don't have to worry about your career potentially ending (although I know the career-ending injuries in bowl games are low) why fault a kid for doing what they deem as best for themselves?

Besides the CFP bowl games, none of them mean ANYthing at all. They are exhibition games that these bowl committees use to bring in extra cash; I hope you don't believe otherwise. If that wasn't the case, then we'd see a cut back on bowl and expansion of the CFP.

Sometimes we let our fandom blind us. Although you want to see your team win, a player choosing to sit out an exhibition game should not lead to you calling them selfish. Do you know if they talked to their teammates before making said decision? It's not good to assume we know how their teammates feel.

We need to take a step back as fans and do some soul-searching; sometimes players act in their own interest, as we ALL do, and it's neither right nor wrong of them to make these decisions when it's THEIR future on the line and not ours. I can assure you if said player doesn't go on to have a good-great NFL career, you'll care less about what they are doing with their life...but hey, at least they won us that post-season exhibition game

---

Agreed. I think one reason why the NCAA will never allow the same extra practices for teams that don't make bowl games as those that do is that they are worried some teams might consider passing on the bowl games.

I know it would mean taking a bit of a hit on image and recruiting, but if the next round broadcast rights sees a reduction in value to the schools, some might be looking for ways to save some money and not flying a team cross country and taking the hit on unsold bowl game tickets might be just the way to do it.

Thee University said:

---

I believe any player this selfish and willing to leave his teammates on an island when they obviously were a major reason a team even makes a bowl should have to pay back his final year on campus tuition, fees, etc. His future NFL contract will not suffer as this will be a pittance.

Any player who does this demonstrates for the world to see their true dedication to our alma mater, their teammates, their coaches and alumni footing the bill. This is just another continuation of the downfall of college athletics,

---

On this, sir, we certainly agree.

1st off....there are too many bowls ..

So many bowls are just barely breathing....no one cares about most bowl games tbh

I dont like kids sitting out


Hell they all need to graduate even IMO

I mean...i dont think they can even coach at a school without a college diploma

Thee University said:

---

I believe any player this selfish and willing to leave his teammates on an island when they obviously were a major reason a team even makes a bowl should have to pay back his final year on campus tuition, fees, etc. His future NFL contract will not suffer as this will be a pittance.

Any player who does this demonstrates for the world to see their true dedication to our alma mater, their teammates, their coaches and alumni footing the bill. This is just another continuation of the downfall of college athletics,

---

100% agree.

There are a few bowl games with hardware attached. If you're playing a CFP or New Year's bowl, then I'd expect everyone to play. Those games represent major achievements for the program.

The other bowl games are for entertainment purposes only. Now, you should never suit up without your intention to do your best. You owe that to yourself, your teammates, and the game. However, in this case, I'm prepared to make some allowances.

A player commits to a school and agrees to help the program achieve its goals. Similarly, a coach agrees to help the player achieve his. If a player is identified as a legit top NFL draft pick, and the bowl game isn't of of the big ones, then I have no problem with that player opting out in order to focus on draft development. I only feel this way about a select few top players faced with also-ran bowl games.

Thee University said:

---

I believe any player this selfish and willing to leave his teammates on an island when they obviously were a major reason a team even makes a bowl should have to pay back his final year on campus tuition, fees, etc. His future NFL contract will not suffer as this will be a pittance.

Any player who does this demonstrates for the world to see their true dedication to our alma mater, their teammates, their coaches and alumni footing the bill. This is just another continuation of the downfall of college athletics,

---

My god you are out of touch. Good luck recruiting when you're known as a school who fines and punishes it's best players.

College football is entertainment, not the freakin Navy Seals. Get a grip.

syme said:

---

Thee University said:

---

I believe any player this selfish and willing to leave his teammates on an island when they obviously were a major reason a team even makes a bowl should have to pay back his final year on campus tuition, fees, etc. His future NFL contract will not suffer as this will be a pittance.

Any player who does this demonstrates for the world to see their true dedication to our alma mater, their teammates, their coaches and alumni footing the bill. This is just another continuation of the downfall of college athletics,

---

My god you are out of touch. Good luck recruiting when you're known as a school who fines and punishes it's best players.

College football is entertainment, not the freakin Navy Seals. Get a grip.

---

I agree so much with this. It's purely for our entertainment at the end of the day.

It's crazy how we hold athletes to such a different standard than others. A lot of deep-rooted jealousy IMO. We all (or 98%) played sports growing up, but were not all gifted to become professional and makes millions in that aspect. It seems a lot of fans have this hatred towards those who were able to achieve their dreams, and THINK they should behave or act how the fan VIEWS.

The way people view coaches v. players, owners v. players, AD's v. players; like the players are supposed to be the one who feel as if they should be lucky they are allowed to play their respective sport. They were blessed with athletic prowess, just as surgeons were blessed with steady hands or lawyers were blessed with the skill to argue. We as fans need to stop thinking athletes are supposed to be this perfect person, that we most certainly are not ourselves, and that we don't hold the owners and coaches to as well.

A lot of introspective looking needs to be done.