I'm curious as to everyone's thoughts, particularly Rifle's, since he's played and coached at the collegiate level. I have mixed feelings on the issue, but at the end of the day it leaves me with a bad taste and character concerns. Thoughts?
Players Sitting Out Bowl Games
- Thread starter ThunderCat98
- Start date
Frankly, I think it’s bush league. These schools, coaches, teammates commit to a program and its success from day one. For someone to play alongside his teammates for 4-5 years or whatever, go through victories and defeats and then say, sorry, I am more important than you guys, that’s BS.
They fear getting hurt, you can get hurt getting out of bed. They can start preparing for the draft after the bowl.
They are already on the radar. But I am an older guy so I value the traits of team, sacrifice for team and responsibility to team and school than the younger set.
It’s not all about you. Jmho
They fear getting hurt, you can get hurt getting out of bed. They can start preparing for the draft after the bowl.
They are already on the radar. But I am an older guy so I value the traits of team, sacrifice for team and responsibility to team and school than the younger set.
It’s not all about you. Jmho
If they start putting restrictions on coaches looking out for themselves and moving on to better opportunities, I’ll then start worrying about what a player does when he’s looking out for his best interests.
For instance:
Some wvu fans are upset at Will Grier for not wanting to play in the bowl game. But nobody is upset about the OC moving on, not coaching the bowl game, and taking the HCing job at Texas State. Why don’t coaches have to fulfill their part, but players do?
For instance:
Some wvu fans are upset at Will Grier for not wanting to play in the bowl game. But nobody is upset about the OC moving on, not coaching the bowl game, and taking the HCing job at Texas State. Why don’t coaches have to fulfill their part, but players do?
Many kids leave their high school team before their senior season to either play for a better program (IMG Academy, Bishop Gorman, etc.) or to enter college early. They do this for purely selfish reasons. They've played with these teammates since childhood, yet they are now leaving them before their final year that they've worked so hard to get to simply for selfish reasons? Is that a character issue that colleges should stay away from recruiting?
The kid initially chose his college based on it being the best option for him: location to family, playing time, best path to the NFL, coaching, academics, etc. He didn't select the school based on how much he could help the players on that team succeed. The choosing of the school was entirely based on selfish reasons, so why isn't anyone upset about that?
Players frequently transfer in order to find a better path to success. Should we also chastise those bounce-back players from JUCO or direct FBS/FCS transfers? Somebody better tell that to the guy who just started the thread about a Florida player wanting to transfer, Marshall's part-time starter at QB this year, Marshall's starting kicker this year, and many others on the roster who made such a selfish move as to leave a team simply for their own benefit.
A kid has a hell of a college career up through his junior year. The recruiting class he came in with was built around him filling a certain position and growing/improving with that recruiting class to find ultimate success as a team when they are seniors. He is guaranteed to be a first round selection in football, basketball, or baseball. Is he selfish for leaving his team one year early in order to better his future?
A guy busts his ass to be a star for a program for 1-5 years, presumably helps his team win a lot, and then wants to cash out with one game to play because it helps his future? I don't see that as any more selfish than the two previous scenarios I mentioned that nobody discusses.
I don't see it as a character issue. In fact, I'd question his character and intelligence if a guaranteed first rounder risked millions of dollars to play in a bowl game which could only hurt his future.
Similar threads
