I find this trend troubling. I understand the reasons but just don’t like it.
Should players opting out of Bowl games be required to return a % of their scholarship?
I have read that the second tier Bowl games are now considered “exhibitions.”
I don’t think so there’s a lot of money to be made playing in the NFL and if let’s say Dotson sits out I’m good with it he give it his best and he has to look out for his football career. Now I hope he plays but I’ll support whatever decision he makes. Just my opinion
On my naughty list, opting out of playing in a bowl is one step below the portal, LOL. I can understand why, but I don't think it's right. Just my opinion.
A player is on the stage day one after setting foot on the collegiate turf; as a starter or second string, they make the school money every Saturday. If a player is a legit draft pick and choses to sit out, so be it; it's their future because after the game the school doesn't give a rats ass about the kid, next man up. Player gets injured and there goes his Sunday paycheck, damn right I'd be at least thinking about sitting out if I'm a high draft pick. Now on the other hand, if the expectation is for the player to play, then maybe the schools should be forced to take out an insurance policy for the players to provide some financial protection in the event of injury. In todays world, the player owes the school nothing at some point, the objective becomes leave in good health and go get a job.
I find this trend troubling. I understand the reasons but just don’t like it.
Should players opting out of Bowl games be required to return a % of their scholarship?
I have read that the second tier Bowl games are now considered “exhibitions.”
I don't like the sitting out thing but realistically why would they have to give back portion of their scholarship? If the player was healthy and played the whole last "regular" season and is already graduated I say he honored his commitment to the school.
So coach, you have a kid that is a top running back in Div 1 football, a lock for a high, 1st round, multi million dollar NFl contract and you play him in the toilet bowl and he demolishes his knee and his shot at a NFL career is done.
You say you want to take money away from him if he sits out the bowl game. So what what are you going to do for him now that he gave up a multi million dollar future playing for you???????
If I was coaching today I would recommend to a kid that is a sure fire 1st round or early day 2 pick to sit out and not jeopardize his career...Go sign your big money deal and send some money back to ole State in the form of a scholarship endowment fund or donation to the football program...That is more valuable to a university or football program than that kid playing in a meaningless bowl game and sustaining a nasty injury that ruins his NFL career...I would be advising Dotson and Brisker to sit this one out and prepare for their NFL careers...I couldn't in good conscience make those kids play and risk injury in some meaningless bowl game...
@the-funeral-director I don’t think the NYD bowls are meaningless these players worked hard all year to get this bowl plus playing Arkansas in a bowl game gettin bowl gifts is better than playing Rutgers, Indiana and Maryland. If future NFL guys need to get ready for the combine I think it’s ok for them to sit out but the bowls for who wants to plays ain’t meaningless. These games have bragging rights for the conference and winning NYD bowl games gets you respect especially when you knock off an SEC or big 10 team. James Franklin said the players are fired up for this game so let’s go out and get the win.
@been-there-ii I get that BT, that was my point, they already graduated and in my opinion have already paid back for that scholarship by their 3 or 4 years of commitment to the team in practice and on the field. I think it is asinine to even think about making a graduated player pay back part of his scholarship for sitting out of a non playoff non championship bowl game after they graduated. I totally understand why a kid who has the talent and is projected to go high in the first round would want to protect his future.
An education/degree is great from ol' State U, but the number 32 pick in 2021 received a $5.5 mill signing bonus and the minimum salary for rookies is ~$600K. Ain't no job out there that pays that kind of money for the avg college graduate. No way in hell would I throw a guilt trip on a player to play when that kind of money awaits. From a Nobel perspective, yeah it would be great if the player set up an endowment in his name for the school to bring along the next recruit or what have you. But in the end, the dude put in 3-4 years of hard work and grind to get to that point, and is basically in the top 2% of their sport; the player earned his future money IMO.
Hey, just for fun, would you expect the medical/surgical student who is acknowledged as one of the best and most promising surgeons in the country who is slated to get in to the world's best micro neuro brain surgery program to continue competing for ol' State U in the Collegiate Hand Slap tournament once his status as a top 1%'er is determined? You'd be saying ,"Hell no, he's nuts, I wouldn't want someone with that poor of judgment working in my head..."
I do agree seriously on getting a degreed education but the education that these guys really need is on finance management. Relatively speaking, the bottom line is if a player can go first round and maybe in high second round, he probably will never make over the course of his entire life the amount of the sign on bonus and/or rookie salary working at any other profession e.g. $2mill sign on bonus would take 20 years at $100,000k/yr to make. The big problem is that most of these players have no financial acumen (that's my assumption), and the sign on bonus and first year salary is probably blown or will be blown by family, friends and financial advisors who are family and friends.
@psu61: A couple of questions here:
1. What the hell is a micro-neuro brain surgeon?? Does that even exist??
2. Do they still hold collegiate hand slapping tournaments??
Up here, we go by the Scottish three kick rule. What's that you ask??
A London lawyer went duck hunting in rural Scotland. He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer’s field on the other side of a fence. As the lawyer climbed over the fence, the elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked the lawyer what he was doing.
The lawyer said, “I shot a duck. It fell into this field, and now I’m going to retrieve it.”
The old farmer replied, “This is my property, and you’re not coming over here.”
The lawyer was indignant.
“I’m one of the best trial lawyers in the UK, and if you don’t let me get that duck, I’ll sue you and take everything you own.”
The old farmer smiled and said, “Apparently, you don’t know how we do things in Scotland. We settle small disagreements like this with the Scottish Three-Kick Rule.”
“What is the ‘Scottish Three-Kick Rule?’” the lawyer asked.
“Well, first I kick you three times, then you kick me three times, and so on and so forth until someone gives up,” the farmer said.
The attorney thought about the proposed contest and quickly decided that he could take the old man, so he agreed to abide by the local custom.
The farmer slowly got down from his tractor and walked up to the city boy. His first kick planted the toe of his heavy work boot into the lawyer’s groin, dropping him to his knees. His second kick nearly ripped the nose off his face.
The lawyer was flat on his belly when the farmer’s third kick to a kidney nearly caused him to give up, but he didn’t. Instead, the lawyer summoned every bit of his will and managed to get to his feet.
“Okay, you old codger, now it’s my turn.”
The old farmer smiled.
“Naw, I give up, You can keep the duck.
Here is my position on this. It is called GIVING BACK! NONE of these current players have been drafted as of today. Yep, they have a pretty good idea what their outcome will be, but they are still enrolled at their university and they are still on the roster. They were given the opportunity to train, develop, play and to receive a FREE education and receive FREE TV advertisement every Saturday for the Pro coaches to see them in action. Without all of this......none of them would be going to the pro's!
Play in your bowl game!!! Give the program and fans another 60 minutes of your time for all that they gave you!!
GIVE BACK AND PAY FORWARD!!!
GO STATE!
@mtnittanylion I want them to play but I understand if they don’t and really in the big dawg bowls most of the players play. FD just makes it sound like most of the players sit out because the SEC beats the chit out of the other conferences 😝 just kidding brother lol
Lots of good points made. Definitely there is a new normal in college football. I wonder if NIL will result in a scholarship agreement having more contractual language. With more players dropping out before non tournament games, and those games being categorized as exhibitions by some, it is likely that viewership for those contests will drop and would result in less revenue. You might see expanding the field for no other reason to make up for lost revenue.
Here is my position on this. It is called GIVING BACK! NONE of these current players have been drafted as of today. Yep, they have a pretty good idea what their outcome will be, but they are still enrolled at their university and they are still on the roster. They were given the opportunity to train, develop, play and to receive a FREE education and receive FREE TV advertisement every Saturday for the Pro coaches to see them in action. Without all of this......none of them would be going to the pro's!
Play in your bowl game!!! Give the program and fans another 60 minutes of your time for all that they gave you!!
GIVE BACK AND PAY FORWARD!!!
GO STATE!
They did give back, with their blood sweat and tears every day this season. Your post makes it sound like they contributed nothing unless they play in a meaningless game. Like somehow Dotson is selfish for not playing in the Outback bowl? After he decided to return and play another entire season?
Not to mention with the new redshirt rules I'd rather see some youngsters get reps anyway.
Gotta say I agree Roam. I've thought about this a bit more and in the end the player has to do what is best for him. I really don't think that a parent even on this board would say fault their own kid if they made the decision to sit when looking at a life changing event such as being a top tier draft. Bottom line is at the end of the day or game, if the player suffers a career ending injury in an extra game, his last game, nobody gives a shit, it is flat out next man up. And IMO, it's also a selfish attitude of the fan/s to feel jipped by the player if he doesn't play; the fan is living in the moment and not in the shows of the player. Several years ago when this all started I thought different about it when I didn't think about the players POV. As a I mentioned in a previous post, if teams want those players to play, then pony up and pay the insurance premium for the equivalent of 3 years salary the player would recieve at a projected draft slot' its not perfect but the world of collegiate sports has changed.
@psu61 I totally get it, I felt the same way at first... just like you my opinion changed
I don't believe I said Dotson ( or any other player for THAT matter ) was selfish in my post....I read it twice to make sure. I also don't believe that I said they did not contribute to the program if they don't play in the bowl game....I read it a third time.
Do I feel they should play in the bowl game? Yes. Will I think less of them if they don't? Not at all. There is a lot of money dangling out there in front of them so I get it. The Outback Bowl is NOT going to make or break Penn State....that ship sailed in week six of this season. I am numbers guy. The odds that Dotson would play in the Outback Bowl and receive a career ending injury is very slim. In fact, it is so slim that he would have better chance of playing the Powerball and winning $100M.
There is no right or wrong decision in opting out of a bowl game. It is a personal decision and theirs to make. If it was me, I would be suiting and playing that last game. My season ends when the teams season ends! But hey, that's me and my decision!
I still believe winning the Outback bowl can put this team back on track in winning and get something going. NYD bowls are great bowl game and 99.9% of the players want to play, so since 1 or 2 guys want to get ready for the NFL doesn’t mean the bowl game is meaningless. Guys that are headed to the NFL need to look after their future but the other players need to look after Penn St Football and imo that’s what 99.999999% of the players do even the ones that sit out the bowl games. All the players want to end this season with a win you can take that to the bank!
I really enjoy the "Bowl" games for what the are; I have to admit I enjoy watching games that have marquee match ups or something like a, very good non-marquee team e.g. Utah, WVa, VaT, vs OSU, PSU, AL etc, I think that type of game really adds to the sport and in most cases is the lesser (sorry, no disrespect intended) teams Championship game. IMO that scenario is what a 12 team playoff sets up; fun games that put teams on the spot for stepping up or shutting up; does this keep players from sitting out, IDK.
By this time I am totally indifferent about, it and it is what it is. In the end people and in this case college sports figures will always do what is in their own best interest and if that means finding the best school to fit their needs, education opportunities, NIL's, transfer portal, early entry to professional sports, opt out of bowl games etc. they have no real allegiance to the fans of their school. Why should we blame them and why should we care about them? These players don't impact our lives so why should we care. Unrelated to this but I would care more about the NCAA spreading their wealth around to non revenue sports for the real amateurs.
What I was trying to say is if we have a kid that’s going to the NFL and he sits out of a bowl game I believe most players on all college teams are ok with it and tell whoever you go on and make the NFL we got your back and we got the team. I believe the players really care about the team they’re on. I know there’s exceptions but most do care about their team and teammates.
I don't believe I said Dotson ( or any other player for THAT matter ) was selfish in my post....I read it twice to make sure. I also don't believe that I said they did not contribute to the program if they don't play in the bowl game....I read it a third time.
Do I feel they should play in the bowl game? Yes. Will I think less of them if they don't? Not at all. There is a lot of money dangling out there in front of them so I get it. The Outback Bowl is NOT going to make or break Penn State....that ship sailed in week six of this season. I am numbers guy. The odds that Dotson would play in the Outback Bowl and receive a career ending injury is very slim. In fact, it is so slim that he would have better chance of playing the Powerball and winning $100M.
There is no right or wrong decision in opting out of a bowl game. It is a personal decision and theirs to make. If it was me, I would be suiting and playing that last game. My season ends when the teams season ends! But hey, that's me and my decision!
IMO when you say they received a "free" education and training and that they should "give back" by playing in the bowl game, you are insinuating they didn't already give back.
Would you say someone doing a job is receiving "free money"? No? Why is it everyone says that of players? Aren't they doing a job? Are they not working hard for their scholarship? Why do they need to "give back" more... like they haven't given a lot already?
All the while coaches leave before bowl games... I notice not one person on here was saying Pry needed to give back, or "pay it forward" by staying for the bowl game. Why not? Why wouldn't we expect that of the leaders of the team while we place that expectation on the players? We all said "good for Pry" and "good luck" to him like it's somehow completely different. Pry left early in preparation for his new job, he won't be coaching VT in their bowl game... but for some reason we only talk about the players being the ones who should stay and not "opt out"
