“I wouldn’t do it.” That’s what ran through my head when I heard both Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette were skipping the Sun Bowl and Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, respectively, to prepare for the NFL draft.
As a former collegiate running back here in Canada, I based that initial thought mainly on one thing: Whenever I get together with former teammates these days, at some point the conversation will reach a hypothetical argument about how much we would pay to be given the opportunity to play one more college game. The amount we settle on is higher than I’d like to admit.
However, the more thought I’ve given it the more I realize that McCaffrey and Fournette (and Baylor’s Shock Linwood, who yesterday opted to skip the Cactus Bowl) are just exposing what we already know but have failed to admit. College bowls are glorified exhibitions used to generate business—not elite competition.
Many initial takes on the situation ranged from calling McCaffrey and Fournette selfish to saying the moves revealed a major character flaw that will hurt their NFL draft status.
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians is afraid it might become a trend.
“That would concern me,” he said. “You’ve had a couple guys get injured in the last couple years. Agents have a lot to say about it, parents have a lot to say about it. But that would concern me.”
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is another detractor.
“One of the greatest memories I ever had was in the Cotton Bowl,” Jones said about his playing days at Oklahoma. “I’m living those plays 55 years later. So I just hate it that they would forgo for them individually. I think they’ll regret that.”
Jones also invoked the name of Jaylon Smith, a Notre Dame linebacker who gut hurt in the Fiesta Bowl a year ago and saw his draft stock fall enough for the Cowboys to pick him up in the second round.
“You say, ‘Well, did Jaylon Smith regret playing in that game? Those things have a way of coming around,” Jones said.
For the record, Smith says he regrets nothing.
But the fact remains that Smith was thought of as a likely top-10 pick before suffering nerve damage in his knee at the Fiesta Bowl. Given where he landed in the draft, he’s already lost between $20 and $35 million, and that number could balloon to much more if he can’t complete his ongoing recovery to get back on the field.
And to collect on the $5-million insurance policy that cost him $60,000 to purchase he’d have to prove within a year that he’ll never play in the NFL. Though he has yet to play a down for Dallas, the team won’t be cutting him any time soon after spending a day-two pick on him.
Furthermore, Jerry’s last game was in 1965, when only nine bowl games were staged—thus only 18 teams went to one. This year 80 teams will play in 41 games, including the national championship playoffs.
Every year we get more bowls with dumb names that nobody cares about.
Do you know who won the Sun Bowl last year? Who was the MVP of the Buffalo Wild Wings bowl? Is the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl appointment viewing? Do you remember who was in the Raycom Media Camelia Bowl a couple days ago?
Bowl games are for the colleges, sponsors and host cities to make money. Who plays in what game has more to do with business interests, TV ratings, and fans traveling than it does about setting up an intriguing matchup.
So why are we criticizing the kids who are thinking of their own business interests?
Both McCaffrey and Fournette are projected to be top-25 picks and the top two running backs taken in the draft. Both were hurt this year and came back during the season. They have a lot to lose and almost nothing to gain by competing.
And this decision goes far beyond just securing draft position. The average NFL career ends at age 27. As a running back you’re one bad cut or missed block from a career-ending injury. That’s why generally all rushers leave school early before their senior season.
So what McCaffrey and Fournette are doing isn’t just for themselves: They are making arrangements to put themselves in the best possible position for their future employer.
Not every guy participates in the NFL Combine. Not every senior competes at the Senior Bowl. Those are business decisions made in the perceived best interest of the player. This should be looked at in the same way.
And if decision makers are worried about this becoming a trend, then create incentives for players to suit up. Make the potential benefit measure up to the potential cost.
Clearly, for most players it’s not much of a decision—for some, playing in a bowl game is a chance to make a name for themselves; for others, it’s the pinnacle of where they’re going to go in football.
But McCaffrey and Fournette don’t belong to those groups. And Marcus Lattimore, another player who had his sure-fire NFL career scuttled by a college injury, would likely give anything for a time machine to skip his entire junior season (never mind one bowl).
So no, I wouldn’t skip a bowl game. But I was never staring down a potential career in the NFL.
A better litmus test is if I had a son in McCaffrey or Fournette’s position: What would I advise him to do? And that’s when it becomes clear: The only right answer is the one that is right for you.