In light of running backs Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey of LSU and Stanford, respectively, deciding against playing in their teams’ bowl games, the sports world caught fire. So many people rushed to sit upon their moral high horses. Many people could not hold their Twitter fingers down long enough to think their thoughts through.
A perfect example of this would be the Dallas Cowboys’ ever-so-talented rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott. The NFL MVP candidate tweeted, “All these young guys deciding to skip their bowl games (confused emoji). I would do anything to play one more time with my brothers in that scarlet and gray.”
The interesting thing about his tweet is that he did in fact have the opportunity to play with his brothers in the scarlet and gray at least 12 more times. But he left early for the NFL. Some would make the argument that these things aren’t the same and he finished the season and they would be correct. But that’s just about the only metric that would help Elliott’s argument. People who agree with Elliott should remember his college career in comparison to theirs.
I hope that no one is forgetting that Elliott played on a national championship contender and had to complain because he felt like he was being underused in their offense. During his time in Columbus, Elliott averaged 15 touches per game. McCaffrey and Fournette averaged 22 and 21 touches, respectively. So the players who sat out were used more, which naturally adds the potential for injury. Oh, but they should risk it because being in El Paso or Orlando with your brothers is more important. So there’s a difference between being a key part on a great team and carrying along a good one.
The only people who have less room to pass judgement but are still trying are coaches. Yet, they feel the need to sound off and make fools of themselves. Steve Addazio, head coach of Boston College’s football team, was one very big detractors of players sitting out.
Ironically enough, when he left Temple University and took the Boston College job in 2012, his staff, as well as his players, were shocked when he left. High turnover rates are normal in college football but Addazio saying things like “I just like where we’re headed. We’re going to get better and continue to grow,” just a week before accepting a job elsewhere. According to The Temple News he said, “the decision was best for his career and his family”.
Well Leonard Fournette already has a daughter to feed, so what’s different when he does what it takes to ensure her the brightest future possible? One more minor detail about the difference between players and coaches a bowl game is during recruiting, coaches make a ton of promises that they don’t follow through on. Coaches happily sit on a recruit’s couch, smile in their parents’ faces, say “I’m not going anywhere and your son’s going to get treated like my family,” only to then bolt from their $200,000 job to a $1 million job with no pause.
They “give up” or “quit” on every player on that team, yet I never see any of this righteous indignation towards them except from the fans of the school they’re leaving. Yet no one bats an eye. These young men who are currently being compensated with a scholarship and nothing more are expected to show more loyalty than their leaders who are compensated with hundreds of thousands to million-dollar contracts.
The fact of the matter is that, regardless of how I feel, it should be every player’s right and choice to sit out bowl games. ACL injuries sustained by Jaylon Smith last year and Jake Butt this year prove that economically it is what’s right to do. These young men should have the choice as to whether they want to play, because I am willing to bet 100 against a dime that if they were to get career ending injuries and say, “Look what I gave for the university,” they wouldn’t get all the loyalty many are asking of them in return.
