From the article:


1. Skip the bowl game!

If it wasn't obvious before, it should be now: Well-regarded prospects have nothing to gain from a professional standpoint, and everything to lose, by playing in an otherwise meaningless college bowl game. His participation in the bowl game can cost him millions of dollars. The 2017 draft provides a succinct explanation.

Running backs Leonard Fournette (LSU) and Christian McCaffrey (Stanford) both skipped their final college games to preserve their health. Did NFL teams question their commitment or love for the game? Hardly. They were among the first eight players drafted, to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers, respectively.

On the other hand is the case of Michigan tight end Jake Butt, who suffered a torn ACL in the Orange Bowl. Before the injury, you could quite comfortably call him a top-50 prospect, meaning he could have been drafted in the first round but no later than the middle of the second. Based on 2016's rookie scale, Butt would have been guaranteed about $2.8 million if he had been drafted at No. 50 overall.

The ACL injury knocked him down to Saturday's fifth round, where he was selected at No. 145. Based on last season's scale, he can expect guarantees of around $260,000. So even after collecting on an insurance policy ESPN's Darren Rovell reported would bring him $543,000, he is still roughly $2 million short of where he would have been.

http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/...bowl-games

when playoffs want 16, players are going to tell them there out of thier mind
would not blame them, you have to rember, players are not getting paid

The number of meaningful games after the regular season went from one in the BCS era to three in this playoff one. From two teams to four.

There is still a ton of waste in cfb, and I am applauding the prospects for sitting out. They assume all of the risk in these games. They aren't quitters or any less team players. You can pay them even a little...it doesn't change the fact that for everyone not on one of those four teams' rosters, the bowl games have nothing universally attached to them. A field trip or vacation for some, the last or first opportunity to showcase oneself for others; the punctuation for a season, or just a contractual obligation to get the school some dough...anyone with hope for a future career in the sport should want no part in non-playoff games.

I see the players perspective, and it makes a lot of sense. I can also see the other side of the coin. If a player is going to get hurt playing in one more game, couldn't he just as easily get hurt in a just as meaningless NFL preseason game? The team would have paid signing bonus, salary and other expenses and have nothing.

I can also see this extending to the HS level. I don't know what the timing is but if a kid has an agreement to play for a college, why play in the HS playoffs? Why even play any more games? Some colleges would honor the scholarship but there are plenty that would not.

(04-30-2017 08:29 AM)Wolfman Wrote:  I see the players perspective, and it makes a lot of sense. I can also see the other side of the coin. If a player is going to get hurt playing in one more game, couldn't he just as easily get hurt in a just as meaningless NFL preseason game? The team would have paid signing bonus, salary and other expenses and have nothing.

I can also see this extending to the HS level. I don't know what the timing is but if a kid has an agreement to play for a college, why play in the HS playoffs? Why even play any more games? Some colleges would honor the scholarship but there are plenty that would not.

The scholarship will be an issue, but not a major one. Say that a new stipulation is put into the scholarship: Players must play in every game they are physically able to play in (barring of course, death in the family, etc), including postseason games. Failure to do so nullifies the scholarship for that season or in its entirety.

Of course, the players that would skip out on bowl games will make enough to pay back that penalty, however, it lets the expectation be known.

yo dude, NFL got ins
kids not getting pd
protect the kid

Soon they won't even play in the CCG's or the last couple of regular season games because they could get hurt also.

One thing to note is that insurance policy is most likely tax free which is an equivalent to about 1.1 to 1.3 million taxable income.

Don't blame someone for not wanting to risk playing in an exhibition game. Which is what bowl game are. I've said before. If I was a coach and my team was 6-6 and playing in a meaningless bowl game. I'd play my younger players to give them more experience.

This whole debate is absurd.

Players should stop working out and practicing then. Singling out that final game for its danger is a reach.

(04-30-2017 09:22 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  One thing to note is that insurance policy is most likely tax free which is an equivalent to about 1.1 to 1.3 million taxable income.

The insurance money, if it pays out, is tax free. But if the player is a 1st- or 2nd-round talent, the policies don't pay enough.

Jake Butt (Michigan TE) tore an ACL in the Orange Bowl on December 30. He had an insurance policy that, in case of injury, paid $10,000 for every draft place between mid-third-round and where he was taken. He will get $543,000, tax free.

That's not enough to compensate for the money he lost, though:

Quote:Prior to Butt's injury, he was projected to be picked near the top of the second round, which would have grossed about $4 million in guaranteed money. As the first pick in the fifth round, Butt will receive about $380,000 in guaranteed money.

With the $543,000 of tax-free insurance money equated to about $900,000 that is taxed, that means the Orange Bowl injury cost Butt around $2.8 million.

from http://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2017/story/...-2-million

Butt said that he doesn't regret playing in the Orange Bowl. And yes, the Orange Bowl is a bigger game than the ones that McCaffrey and Fournette skipped. Still, got to figure that future draft-eligible players will compare those situations and decide that McCaffrey and Fournette did the right thing.

(04-30-2017 10:15 AM)BigEastHomer Wrote:  Singling out that final game for its danger is a reach.

Why? I qualified how it's not a couple posts above. How is it a reach?

As for the bowls vs. pre-season argument, how is it different? Pros get paid, even if just for one game that doesn't count, even for that one appearance, it's more than the entirety of a college career.

(04-30-2017 09:02 AM)Soobahk40050 Wrote:  

(04-30-2017 08:29 AM)Wolfman Wrote:  I see the players perspective, and it makes a lot of sense. I can also see the other side of the coin. If a player is going to get hurt playing in one more game, couldn't he just as easily get hurt in a just as meaningless NFL preseason game? The team would have paid signing bonus, salary and other expenses and have nothing.

I can also see this extending to the HS level. I don't know what the timing is but if a kid has an agreement to play for a college, why play in the HS playoffs? Why even play any more games? Some colleges would honor the scholarship but there are plenty that would not.

The scholarship will be an issue, but not a major one. Say that a new stipulation is put into the scholarship: Players must play in every game they are physically able to play in (barring of course, death in the family, etc), including postseason games. Failure to do so nullifies the scholarship for that season or in its entirety.

Of course, the players that would skip out on bowl games will make enough to pay back that penalty, however, it lets the expectation be known.

Scholarships are 4 year now. They can't pull the scholarship and they can't force the kid to pay back the money. It's a exhibition game that unless you need it to showcase your skills they should not be playing.

(04-30-2017 02:54 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  

(04-30-2017 10:15 AM)BigEastHomer Wrote:  Singling out that final game for its danger is a reach.

Why? I qualified how it's not a couple posts above. How is it a reach?

As for the bowls vs. pre-season argument, how is it different? Pros get paid, even if just for one game that doesn't count, even for that one appearance, it's more than the entirety of a college career.

And players get signing bonus's worth millions to compensate them for the risk. College players do not. The value of a scholarship in no ways compensates a top pick for the potential lost value.

NFLPA President Eric Winston on this issue....

“Whatever it might be, there’s not a right and wrong answer,” Winston says. “It’s a business decision that needs to be made, and shouldn’t be made because, ‘Oh, they paid for my school.’ It’s gotta be made because it’s the right business decision for you going forward. And let’s face it, there’s another side to this. The schools could be giving out insurance policies to all these guys much bigger than they are right now. Any guy that’s draft eligible, especially first, second, third round, why would you ever play a bowl game without your school buying you a couple million dollars of insurance on loss of value?”

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/04/30/nfl-d...rman-bills

(05-01-2017 07:14 AM)Maize Wrote:  NFLPA President Eric Winston on this issue....

“Whatever it might be, there’s not a right and wrong answer,” Winston says. “It’s a business decision that needs to be made, and shouldn’t be made because, ‘Oh, they paid for my school.’ It’s gotta be made because it’s the right business decision for you going forward. And let’s face it, there’s another side to this. The schools could be giving out insurance policies to all these guys much bigger than they are right now. Any guy that’s draft eligible, especially first, second, third round, why would you ever play a bowl game without your school buying you a couple million dollars of insurance on loss of value?”

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/04/30/nfl-d...rman-bills

Thanks for that comment NFL. Now you are going to ruin college football. As the NFL players tank the NFL rating and turn fans away from the game because of prima done players, so now the college fans will start to turn from the college game if more players are going to do this.
Alumni will be pissed enough to not give $$ to schools and not even show up for bowl games.

The NFL Players Association President & Cincinnati Bengal Eric Winston has a point...Jake Butt and especially Jaylon Smith lost literally millions by playing in what is basically an exhibition game without any financial protection

This is just more obvious then before. Jadaveon Clowney half-assed his entire junior season. Still went #1.

If I were in a "guaranteed 1st round" pick's shoes I wouldn't play in any bowl that isn't a playoff game.

(05-01-2017 07:28 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(05-01-2017 07:14 AM)Maize Wrote:  NFLPA President Eric Winston on this issue....

“Whatever it might be, there’s not a right and wrong answer,” Winston says. “It’s a business decision that needs to be made, and shouldn’t be made because, ‘Oh, they paid for my school.’ It’s gotta be made because it’s the right business decision for you going forward. And let’s face it, there’s another side to this. The schools could be giving out insurance policies to all these guys much bigger than they are right now. Any guy that’s draft eligible, especially first, second, third round, why would you ever play a bowl game without your school buying you a couple million dollars of insurance on loss of value?”

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/04/30/nfl-d...rman-bills

Thanks for that comment NFL. Now you are going to ruin college football. As the NFL players tank the NFL rating and turn fans away from the game because of prima done players, so now the college fans will start to turn from the college game if more players are going to do this.
Alumni will be pissed enough to not give $$ to schools and not even show up for bowl games.

Well, it's not like college athletics didn't have time to get ahead of this, uhh...decades ago? Oh, wait...they fight everything in the college athletes' best interests and shove this amateur shtick while making millions and not paying a dime in taxes. Yeah, let's get pissed and toss it right back on the kids. Because...they're the ones who are the crooks, right?

Give me a break.

You know what I love best about the NFLPA on this one? They took a shot right at the college ranks for being so lazy, incompetent, and unaccountable as caretakers for the kids. They know the schools and bowls work arm-in-arm to make money off the kids in what is a pointless exhibition; if the college ranks were better in enforcing the rules, protecting the kids, or, insuring the kids from the worst possible injuries (and, hey, guess what...this sport is violent, and it's not uncommon something bad happens), whatever this NCAA/D1A football cartel wants to call itself can actually fight back. I got a sh*t-eating grin from it because I know they can't. Nothing is really given back equally to the players at that level. And I love the nice way the NFLPA reminds us that.

Just remember...basketball figured this out longer ago. The product is still decent and meaningful, even with one-and-done's who make no serious dent in the game wherever they play.

Ehh, this is being overblown by pundits and media. Two top-ten RBs sitting out a bowl game is a very unique situation and hardly indicative of a trend. Are some elite prospects gonna start sitting out - probably. But this doesn't exactly signal the end of the bowl system.