Skipping Bowl Games is a person by person choice. A lot of people are talking about the players that are going to skip their teams bowl game this year. I hear all kind of complaints from people. How can they do this to their team? Its not fair to do this to the fans that supported them this year. They owe the university because they were given a scholarship. These are all valid points. I get it. In the end the people doing the complaining are not the ones that have the most to loose. There is a lot more at stake here than playing in a bowl game. In the end the only one that can decide this is the player. It is a personal choice and you can complain about it all you want. In the end you have to respect their decision.
Personal Choice
I have no problem with anyone that decides to skip a bowl game. If the Bowl game has any importance to it I would understand it less but still would not blame the player for skipping it. Especially if that player is going to be a first round draft pick in the NFL. Being that in the current format only 4 teams make the playoffs. This limits the number of post regular season games that can have an importance. Even when they expand the playoff to eight teams the number of players that will be playing in significant games will be limited.
On the other side of the equation I have no problem with players that want to play in their bowl game either. Even if it is someone who is going to potentially be the first pick over all in the NFL draft. This is something that they will never be able to do again. Playing in a bowl for your college is very exciting.
When your college career is over you can not go back and do it again. When its done its done. So if someone wants to play then they should play. It is like some guys want to come back and play their final year of eligibility. If you are going to go high in the draft I don’t understand coming back for that year. I do fully respect the decision a player makes. Just because this is something that you can not go back and do over.
Fine Line
The fine line is deciding what risk you are able to accept. If you play in that bowl game and get injured. Even a relatively simple injury can be a concern. In the past few years there have been several players that took that risk. Got injured and it cost them a significant amount of money. That was their choice. I do not know if they took out some kind of insurance to cover the possibility of a significant injury. Really in the big picture the NCAA should be the ones taking out the insurance policy if they want the players to play in meaningless after the season games.
For the players that are going to go in the first few rounds. They have already proved what they need to prove. What can you possibly show in one last game at the end of the season that someone could not just look back at the video they already have on you. Besides the Combine that will be coming up in just a few short months.
Why players choose to not play in Bowl Games
- Worried about injury
- No money to play
- Meaningless game
- Getting Ready for the NFL Draft
It really does not matter what their reason is. Even if their school and team mates do not approve of it they still have to respect their decision to not risk a serious injury for one last go with the college team.
This is where things would get complicated if the players start to get paid to play in college. Once that happens there are going to have to be a contract of some kind. Depending on the player they may be able to get some item put into the contract to cover playing extra games or to not playing the extra game. From my point of view once they start to get paid then unless they are injured they will have no right to decide not to play in a Bowl game. You don’t get to take the good and avoid the bad once you are getting paid.
Cross That Bridge
If a player decides to just forgo his entire season I see nothing wrong with that either. That does not happen often and there are only a few players that this would apply to. Nick Bosa of Ohio State is one of those. He made that choice and his teammates and the fans should be fine with that. Again once the players start to get paid this all changes.
What do you think? How do you feel about players skipping their teams Bowl game?
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