🏈 Players forgoing bowl games

[TheChief]

My post mentions what the team/player get. Team = school and athletic entity.

Right. We agree. The school gets the cash from the bowl game.

Saban sums the situation nicely in his press conference. The bowls are not what they once were. The genie is out of the bottle, and we'll never again see things the way they once were. I have to agree that it's up to each player to see what situation will maximize their own potential when it comes to participating in the bowl game. If the game means much to your team, maybe that player will participate for the good of his team. In my own opinion, LF cannot make himself more valuable by playing in a bowl game.

Just my 2 cents. I think we're in more agreement than we realize. I would like for the best players on the team I'm rooting for to play in every game they are physically able to play in. I can't blame them for saying "No thanks" though.

 

[planomateo]

5 years ago the Sugar Bowl Chief Exec was making $600k, that's just one person.

 

[planomateo]

I missed the Texas A&M game last night. Looking at the stats line, Myles Garrett with zero sacks and 1 tackle...but hey, at least he played in the bowl game.

Anyone watch the game? Did he at least look like he was trying?

I mention this here because he said he was gonna play in his bowl game.

 

[JoshB]

I missed the Texas A&M game last night. Looking at the stats line, Myles Garrett with zero sacks and 1 tackle...but hey, at least he played in the bowl game.

Anyone watch the game? Did he at least look like he was trying?

I mention this here because he said he was gonna play in his bowl game.

He got destroyed the few times I actually noticed him, wiffed on a sack once too. But to be fair to him, like you said, at least he played. The sideline reporter said that Sumlin approached him a few weeks before the game and asked if he would play and Garrett looked at him shocked and said "of course I am, why wouldnt I?" So he gets point for that.

 

[Tidestalker]

He got destroyed the few times I actually noticed him, wiffed on a sack once too. But to be fair to him, like you said, at least he played. The sideline reporter said that Sumlin approached him a few weeks before the game and asked if he would play and Garrett looked at him shocked and said "of course I am, why wouldnt I?" So he gets point for that.

So if he drops say 2 picks when that film gets out, is it worth it?! Talking hundreds of thousands of dollars here.

No right or wrong answer really... But it's a legitimate question that these guys face when they've got more to lose than gain at this point in their college careers.

 

[TUSKtimes]

I know I'm prejudice but this guy just doesn't dominate enough to be a legit number one pick. And not by a long shot. Jonathan Allen would be long gone before I considered Garrett. Deshaun Watson would be long gone before I considered Garrett. Reuben Foster would be, well you get it.

 

[OldPlayer]

NFL teams won't make a decision based on one game. He has all the attributes (speed, strength, agility) to excel in the NFL with the right coaching. Right now, Garrett and Allen are #1 and/or #2. The fact he played gives teams a good sign of his team commitment. Those are the good things. The bad thing is that whoever is #1, he will have to go to a very crappy team (unless that team trades the #1 pick for multiple draft picks - which could be a real possibility).

 

[bama alum]

I know I'm prejudice but this guy just doesn't dominate enough to be a legit number one pick. And not by a long shot. Jonathan Allen would be long gone before I considered Garrett. Deshaun Watson would be long gone before I considered Garrett. Reuben Foster would be, well you get it.

+1 I have never really understood the hype either. The games v. Bama have been three of his biggest and toughest ones in college. Never saw anything that would warrant such a high pick.

 

[TUSKtimes]

+1 I have never really understood the hype either. The games v. Bama have been three of his biggest and toughest ones in college. Never saw anything that would warrant such a high pick.

Garrett had 0 solo tackles 0 sacks in 3 of the last 4 games. He makes Clowney look consistent.

 

[bama alum]

Garrett had 0 solo tackles 0 sacks in 3 of the last 4 games. He makes Clowney look consistent.

Yeah, I forgot about him. Most people say that one helluva tackle he made on the Michigan RB is what landed, maybe solidified his 1st pick status. Okay. What about Jonathan Allen's superman tackle? Allen has been a lot more consistent in his play in college than was Clowney.

OTOH, the #1 pick will have to suffer with the others in Cleveland. Perhaps Jacksonville is a better destination.

 

[Tidestalker]

2 potential victims in Michigan's Bowl game...

Hurt LB Peppers waiting to make draft decision

Peppers did not play in Michigan's 33-32 loss to Florida State at the Capital One Orange Bowl after tweaking his hamstring in practice the day before the game while jumping to catch a ball. Peppers tested the leg in full pads during the team's warm-up Friday but decided he wasn't healthy enough to play.

After the game, a teary-eyed Peppers said his NFL future did not have an effect on his decision to sit out the game. He said he couldn't run at full speed during warm-ups and thought he would be harming his team by trying to play.

"I could care less about what people think about why I didn't play," Peppers said. "I just couldn't be out there with my brothers. That hurt more than the loss. My future didn't play any role in this. I still don't know what I'm going to do yet."

In addition, Michigan lost tight end Jake Butt when he appeared to injure his right knee at the end of a 16-yard reception in the second quarter. Coach Jim Harbaugh said Butt likely injured his ACL or MCL.

Harbaugh said he didn't yet know the exact injury or the severity of it. Butt, a senior, won the Mackey Award for the nation's best tight end this season and was considered one of the top NFL prospects at the position heading into Friday's game.

While this is likely a small issue for Peppers, this could be absolutely devastating for Butts. I'm expecting stories like this to progress the trend of players sitting out.

 

[planomateo]

 

[planomateo]

And people want to play for Harbaugh... I don't understand this decision at all. A spectacle? Who gives a shit what anyone outside the team thinks?

There is more to the story...

 

[TUSKtimes]

Harbaugh has always had a conspiracy complex. See his comments when his name was put out there for the LA Rams job? If he thought Peppers wasn't giving his all for the team, I could see Harbaugh putting him in timeout in the upstairs box. You would think Peppers on the sideline could help the defense get in the right sets and help identify coverages with the team. Even moral support was impossible. Harbaugh is one nutty fruitcake.

 

[Bamabww]

Harbaugh did Peppers and the team wrong by sending him (Peppers) to the press box. @TUSKstuff , agree with your comments 100%.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Still hard for me to believe that Michigan has 43 seniors, 10 starting on defense and numerous more on O. Brady Hoke must have known what he was doing on the recruiting trail. This is Harbaugh's 3rd recruiting class and next season he will be starting his own Juniors, let's see if he can develop and groom the same caliber of players as Hoke.