6 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Who is to say which bowl game is meaningless if any of them are?  Why is the National Title game more meaningful than the Pinstripe Bowl?  If a player is injured in the title game, will it heal better, faster, more completely because it was a 'meaningful' game?    Nah, same risk, and frankly, the same reward for the player.  Chance to lose out on millions of earnings... 

 

You either play for the love of the game, or you don't.  

Kind of my point about most entire college football teams. We know beforehand about 6-10 teams have a chance to make the playoffs. 

 

9 minutes ago, downundermike said:

Let’s say he is drafted by the Panthers.  I am sure Christian McCaffery, who skipped his last bowl game, won’t give a flying F about it.

No they won’t, nor would I if I were them. But they would give a flying f if he opts out of week 1 next nfl season 

20 minutes ago, justrelax said:

His decision potentially affects his whole life. Easy for you to make his decision as you suffer no consequences.

You tough guys wear me out.

You are old and have probably been following NCAAFB longer than most. (😆)  When did players start to sit out games for draft preservation?  I feel like it doesn't go back more than 5-10 years.

I understand the tough guy sentiment that you have a commitment to the team and need to uphold it.  What would a player who sits out games for the draft do if they are not happy with going into the last year of a rookie deal without an extension?  Are they just going to be protecting themselves?

I also understand that this is their one shot to keep a very fragile dream alive.

I'm not going to judge them too hard; if I were a rare running back slotted to go in the first round, I'd probably sit out my non-national championship bowl game too.  

At the end of the day, teams want to fill needs with quality players.  The ideal attitude is that every prospect would rather have their legs amputated than quit on their team and views every game as an opportunity to prove their worth as opposed to an opportunity to lose draft value and money...but that's not reality.

The Eagles could be in the playoffs tomorrow. A lot will be scoreboard watching later in the day but it all means nothing if we don't take care of business. Win this game.

3 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

 

Yeah that's probably accurate.  Birds of a feather.  McCaffery signed his big new deal and then immediately has fallen off of a cliff.  

 

But it's more long term than that.  It's a red flag to show as a player and a person Pickett lacks the necessary leadership qualities, the actual love for the game and is beloved and respected by his teammates.  A QB like that isn't going to become a franchise guy.  

Tom Brady, the GOAT signed off on Leonard Fournette coming to his team, Fournette skipped his bowl game.

19 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

The big question I wonder about is what is the future fall out of the top players choosing to opt out... what happens to viewership, etc.  Do the sponsors still drop the same amount of money on the bowl games if the top players aren't there, or coaches don't participate because they've already moved on to a different school?  

 

I wonder what the Bowl season ends up looking like in 10 or 20 years.   Its already drastically different from what it was just 20, or even just 10 years ago.  And I'll happily say that I will sound like an old fart in saying... I miss the college football scene of yesteryear.  The Rose Bowl always being between Pac-10 and Big-10 Champs, etc.  

I think the only way to combat it is to make the incentive of playing the bowl game worth it. The schools get mega profits, the pro teams pull in mega profits, maybe the players should be given a bigger slice of the pie if you want them to perform when you say so (and not you specifically, IP, the owners/athletic directors)

Thats a very simplified answer, and will likely not happen, but I’m almost always with the players on these kind of issues. It’s a business, and they’re the product that’s chewed up and spit out. Make as much as you can for as long as you can, while playing game you love and have been blessed to play. 

Another example is Clowney, one of the more high profile players to do this.  Just this amazing physical athlete and talent.  Never lived up to his potential.  It's always just been about the money to him.  He never cared enough to put in the work throughout his career to be as great as he could have been.  Played a large part of his career with JJ Watt and blew that opportunity completely.  If he pushed himself to be the player he wanted to be that defense would have been unstoppable.  Now he just hops around team to team, highest paying contract for highest paying contract.  No team wanting him for long.  

3 minutes ago, Casey @ Bat said:

Kind of my point about most entire college football teams. We know beforehand about 6-10 teams have a chance to make the playoffs. 

 

Well, they have to play enough games to get on the map... but then, they should just pull out the rest of the way, like Nick Bosa did in October before the draft.  Yes, with a bit of an injury excuse, but still had a chance to return and help his team.   Instead, he bailed on them and went into NFL Draft prep mode... in October - a full 6 months before the draft.

Not playing in bowl games discussion is nonsense.  Has no bearing on how the player will turn out in the NFL.  This is all @RememberTheKoy doing damage control for Hurts potential replacement.  

4 minutes ago, downundermike said:

Tom Brady, the GOAT signed off on Leonard Fournette coming to his team, Fournette skipped his bowl game.

 

Fournette was coming in to play a role.  The Bucs already have one of the greatest player leaders on the roster at QB.  Pickett is a QB.  That is someone who will be depended on to become the leader of the franchise if drafted in the first round.  He has displayed major red flags for his leadership ability, love for the game and for his teammates.  

1 minute ago, RememberTheKoy said:

 

Fournette was coming in to play a role.  The Bucs already have one of the greatest player leaders on the roster at QB.  Pickett is a QB.  That is someone who will be depended on to become the leader of the franchise if drafted in the first round.  He has displayed major red flags for his leadership ability, love for the game and for his teammates.  

Pickett is a 10x better QB than Hurts.  You are trying to make more of intangibles because Hurts is supposedly some Superman in that area.  I would take the guy with physical skills over intangibles 10x out of 10.

7 minutes ago, TorontoEagle said:

I think the only way to combat it is to make the incentive of playing the bowl game worth it. The schools get mega profits, the pro teams pull in mega profits, maybe the players should be given a bigger slice of the pie if you want them to perform when you say so (and not you specifically, IP, the owners/athletic directors)

Thats a very simplified answer, and will likely not happen, but I’m almost always with the players on these kind of issues. It’s a business, and they’re the product that’s chewed up and spit out. Make as much as you can for as long as you can, while playing game you love and have been blessed to play. 

Sure... but at the same time, the vast majority of them won't sniff the pros, and they do get remunerated for their play... it's called access to a college education, with free room and board.   Depending on the school, that amounts to well over a quarter of a million dollars or so, for a 5 year stint.  They don't get 'nothing'.  They get an opportunity...

4 minutes ago, downundermike said:

Pickett is a 10x better QB than Hurts.  You are trying to make more of intangibles because Hurts is supposedly some Superman in that area.  I would take the guy with physical skills over intangibles 10x out of 10.

 

You're so obsessed with Hurts.  His success has broken you.   I'm not discussing Hurts.  I'm discussing Pickett and what I'm discussing about Pickett has nothing to do with Hurts.  

 

Best case scenario for a guy like Pickett who lacks these skills is Kirk Cousins.  A mercenary who is always just out chasing the money, his teammates seem to not like him wherever he goes and his teams never really win anything.  But even with Kirk I think he has more love for the game than Pickett has shown.  So I don't think he would even have Kirk Cousins level of success in the NFL.  

3 minutes ago, downundermike said:

Not playing in bowl games discussion is nonsense.  Has no bearing on how the player will turn out in the NFL.  This is all @RememberTheKoy doing damage control for Hurts potential replacement.  

Well I don’t want Pickett regardless, I want guys like Nakobe Dean and Jordan Davis to flatten his arse the next 10 years. We need defense. 

1 minute ago, Iggles_Phan said:

 

1 minute ago, Casey @ Bat said:

Well I don’t want Pickett regardless, I want guys like Nakobe Dean and Jordan Davis to flatten his arse the next 10 years. We need defense. 

We need defense and a qb

Just now, olsilverhair said:

We need defense and a qb

Agreed but that QB doesn’t appear to be in this draft according to the so called experts

2 minutes ago, Casey @ Bat said:

Agreed but that QB doesn’t appear to be in this draft according to the so called experts

Just draft Bobby Hoying in Round 3... that will do it.

2 minutes ago, TorontoEagle said:

I think the only way to combat it is to make the incentive of playing the bowl game worth it. The schools get mega profits, the pro teams pull in mega profits, maybe the players should be given a bigger slice of the pie if you want them to perform when you say so (and not you specifically, IP, the owners/athletic directors)

Thats a very simplified answer, and will likely not happen, but I’m almost always with the players on these kind of issues. It’s a business, and they’re the product that’s chewed up and spit out. Make as much as you can for as long as you can, while playing game you love and have been blessed to play. 

I have both anti player and anti university sentiments on this.

The schools get the profits, not the players.  But there is a reason for that; no one cares about the players.  The NBA's marketability and value are player driven.  In the NFL, the franchises drive it more, but the players a piece of that.  In all NCAA sports, nobody spends money or tunes in for the players.  No one.  They do it for Notre Dame, Alabama, Duke basketball, their alma mater, etc.  So I don't really agree that everyone is making all this money on the backs of the players.  The players just get to have the cameras on them.  They are as replaceable in this cash cow as the students in the marching band on the sidelines.  They get a free education and access to a huge alumni network in the process.  

On the other hand, it is a weird inequality that the guys playing the game in this multi-billion dollar industry are making nothing...even if they do amount to mere replaceable stage props.  I think CFB is far too big of a business and is a fundamental distraction from the raison d'être for a university.  I'd love to see universities have to pay/bid for players and throw a wrench into that entire financial model, perhaps making things a bit less profitable for them.  

2 minutes ago, Casey @ Bat said:

Agreed but that QB doesn’t appear to be in this draft according to the so called experts

Those so called "experts" are not really experts. 

Just now, DeathByEagle said:

Those so called "experts" are not really experts. 

I know, that’s why I said ‘so called’. A couple Quarterbacks always go in Rd 1

Just now, RememberTheKoy said:

 

Yeah dude, I'm sure his teammates were thrilled for their QB to turn on them and bail on the bowl game.  I'm sure the other seniors were really happy too to for him to bail on them in the biggest bowl game of their college careers as well.  Many of which the final football game they will ever play.  

 

You keep trying to make this comparison to head coaches benching starters when it isn't even close to being something that can be compared.  

  The seniors on Pitt are gonna go have a fun game and enjoy themselves with absolutely no pressure on them, because they know fun and games are finished, hopefully they are mature enough to understand that unless you come from wealth, you are gonna have to buckle down, and make a life for yourself and your family because there are no handouts and you have the utmost respect for Kenny Pickett who just led you to a great season, and he gets to go on and live his dream of playing in the NFL.  
 Had he played and torn his shoulder up, every business Major would of called him an idiot behind his back for costing himself millions of dollars, while the other kids who have just wasted 4 years of college by smoking dope and drinking beer were all happy he was there with them for 4 plays. The haters on the team, cause every walk of life has them, are laughing their butts off behind his back for costing himself millions of dollars.  
 
NFL GM’s won’t question his heart, but they will his brain and the combine interview, will consist of brain teasers like if Jalen Hurts threw a pass 60 yards, and Dan Marino did the same right now, how much faster would Dan Marino’s pass get to 60 yards?  
 
 

 

33 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Who is to say which bowl game is meaningless if any of them are?  Why is the National Title game more meaningful than the Pinstripe Bowl?  If a player is injured in the title game, will it heal better, faster, more completely because it was a 'meaningful' game?    Nah, same risk, and frankly, the same reward for the player.  Chance to lose out on millions of earnings... 

 

You either play for the love of the game, or you don't.  

So you are saying winning game one of a football season is just as important as the Super Bowl?  Gotcha. 

14 minutes ago, Casey @ Bat said:

Well I don’t want Pickett regardless, I want guys like Nakobe Dean and Jordan Davis to flatten his arse the next 10 years. We need defense. 

100% agreed!!

6 minutes ago, The Blackfish said:

  The seniors on Pitt are gonna go have a fun game and enjoy themselves with absolutely no pressure on them, because they know fun and games are finished, hopefully they are mature enough to understand that unless you come from wealth, you are gonna have to buckle down, and make a life for yourself and your family because there are no handouts and you have the utmost respect for Kenny Pickett who just led you to a great season, and he gets to go on and live his dream of playing in the NFL.  
 Had he played and torn his shoulder up, every business Major would of called him an idiot behind his back for costing himself millions of dollars, while the other kids who have just wasted 4 years of college by smoking dope and drinking beer were all happy he was there with them for 4 plays. The haters on the team, cause every walk of life has them, are laughing their butts off behind his back for costing himself millions of dollars.  
 
NFL GM’s won’t question his heart, but they will his brain and the combine interview, will consist of brain teasers like if Jalen Hurts threw a pass 60 yards, and Dan Marino did the same right now, how much faster would Dan Marino’s pass get to 60 yards?  
 

 

 

What an absolutely delusional point of view that you have.  The football team just had the best season that university has had since the early 80s and were playing in their biggest bowl game since the early 80s.  You are kidding yourself if you don't think those kids those seniors are competitors and wanted to win that bowl game.  That after that great season that they didn't want to cap it off with a win in the Peach Bowl.  Instead this kid who has so little competitive spirit to him and care for his teammates makes the most selfish decision.

Every NFL GM is going to question his heart and commitment.  It's disgraceful what he did to his teammates.  Major red flag.  

Bowl games are simply a travel opportunity for the team, band, and alumni and students with the money to travel. My 12-2 Cougars played in Birmingham in the TicketSmart Bowl.  There is a Ton the Tiger Cereal Bowl at this point. It is a bit of a joke at this point where the selection is driven by draw (fans that travel, locality) and acceptance based on revenue for the school.  I don’t blame any of the kids who opt out because they may have an athletic employment future anymore than a kid opting out to spend time with the family over the holidays.  I look at Bowl games as just another opportunity to scout players.