Don’t Label Christian McCaffrey Selfish For Skipping A Bowl Game
By Ryan McNeill
Don’t label Christian McCaffrey or Leonard Fournette greedy or selfish for electing to skip a bowl game.
If you want to place a label or adjective next the names of Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and LSU’s Leonard Fournette, make it something like wise or smart.
Both players are elite running backs. Fournette entered this season as the front-runner to win the Heisman Trophy and McCaffrey finished second in voting a year ago. They are marquee names that fans and corporate sponsors want playing in bowl games.
This month, both players have gotten heat from media and fans for electing to skip their college’s respective bowl games in order to make sure they are healthy for the upcoming NFL Draft. Since neither LSU (Fournette) or Stanford (McCaffrey) are playing in bowl games that will dictate if either school will be named National Champions, both players elected to sit out so that they don’t risk injury and thus cost themselves money on draft night.
To me, both players skipping their upcoming bowl games was a wise choice as both players had minimal to gain from playing in a bowl game and too much to lose financially.
New York Post writer Howie Kussoy summed it up perfectly when he compared this to what other professional sports teams and athletes do to maintain the health of star players.
“You wouldn’t expect Tom Brady to play four quarters of a preseason game,” Kussoy explained. “You don’t bat an eyelash when Gregg Popovich sits all of his Spurs stars on the second night of a back-to-back. They are simply eliminating risk. They are making the right decision for their futures. The difference? Those players already have been paid.”
Athletes eliminating risk and ensuring they get paid for their skills is what’s at the heart of this debate.
Last year Notre Dame’s linebacker, Jaylon Smith, saw his NFL draft stock plummet after he suffered a severe knee injury in the Fiesta Bowl in January. The injury was so bad that he went from being projected as a high first-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys shocking media and fans by taking him in the second round.
Smith still hasn’t played a meaningful snap in the NFL.
Danny Kanell is a former college star and NFL player who now has a radio show on ESPN. This afternoon he used his platform to rail against college players skipping Bowl Games.
“I hate the premise that you’d bail on your team,” Kanell vented, “but I realize there’s money at stake.”
The problem is this isn’t a case of bailing on your team. Both players completed three years of battling in the trenches for their team. Fournette did so while continuing to play through an ankle injury.
Later on the same show, New England Patriots defensive end Chris Long dropped one of the best quotes on collegiate athletics.
“The kids are part of the business scheme,” Long said, “so why can’t they be businessmen?”
Money is at the heart of this issue. College athletes have long been given a free scholarship while the college they play for share billions off of TV deals, tickets and clothing. Meanwhile, players aren’t even able to make money off appearances or signing autographs.
Heck, Fournette had to jump through hoops with the NCAA last year when he wanted to auction off a game-worn jersey to raise money for charity.
It shouldn’t be a surprise when a smart, educated athlete from Stanford stands up to rail against a system than many feel exploit kids. Why blame McCaffrey for taking countless hits for his college and then saying no to a game that will make his school tons of money but could cost him lots of money on possibly the only professional football contract he signs?
There’s no logical incentive for a college kid to play a bowl game when they are poised to enter the NFL draft. There’s just too much to lose and too little to gain.
Kudos to McCaffrey and Fournette for sparking this conversation, and hopefully causing some change in a corrupt, broken system.