Georgia and Alabama’s best should have skipped the national title game | Opinion
For the player there is no discernible difference between the Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl and the College Football Playoff national championship game.
To the college player who plans to play in the NFL, he should treat the TaxAct Camellia Bowl the same as the Rose Bowl.
They’re the same.
On Monday night, Alabama played Georgia in the college football title game that featured every single big name player available on both rosters. Future NFL players were all over that field in Indianapolis, but they should have stayed safe on the sidelines.
In the first half, Alabama’s top receiver, Jameson Williams, suffered an apparent knee injury when he landed awkwardly after a catch. He was taken to the locker room shortly after he left the field.
The day after the game, ESPN NFL reporter Adam Schefter reported that Williams suffered a torn ACL.
“Doctors believe that, after surgery within the next 10 days, Williams will retain his sub 4.3 speed, and they expect a full recovery,” Schefter wrote.
The BCS Plus 2 Football Tournament is college football’s last safe zone, when it should be just as vulnerable.
Even had Wiliams, the projected No. 1 receiver in the 2022 NFL Draft, played, what was he going to gain?
If the player is all about getting paid, don’t fall for the title.
(If the player wants to play a big game, have fun with his friends and compete against some bad, bad men in what will be a memorable life experience, as you were.)
The risk of injury in the Lending Tree Bowl should be the same as the Orange Bowl.
If you got your highlight reel, skip it.
The sight of Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corrall suffering a sprained ankle in the Sugar Bowl was detestable because, “who cares about the Sugar Bowl?”
The thought was he should have avoided the bowl game in the first place, like Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett, who opted out of the Peach Bowl.
Despite what the NFL says, it doesn’t care if these players appear in these games. NFL teams will always find a way to justify picking, or skipping, a player.
A bowl of any title won’t matter.
Former Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons opted out of the entire 2020 college football seasons because of COVID concerns. Parsons went on to become the 12th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and he’s the best rookie of the class.
Thanks to guys like Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly, college football’s latest example of high profile coaches who “opted out” of the rest of their season to accept more lucrative jobs elsewhere, we know the coaches really don’t care, either.
Despite what the fans say, there is no evidence that says we won’t watch a football game involving the names we know.
To the player, all of these postseason games should be treated equally.
As college football slowly heads down a path that looks vaguely similar to college basketball, those who run (ruin?) this sport will eventually have to devise a contract that incentivizes players to just play the games.
If that is at all possible.
With players taking more control of their own situations by jumping into the NCAA’s transfer portal, trying to make money by selling weightless pens on Instagram, or quitting on the remainder of seasons, the college football postseason is increasingly meaningless and expansion won’t solve it.
When college football adopted this pseudo playoff bracket, execs and administrators did not foresee that top players quitting on the season would become fashionable.
With the money now in the hundreds of thousands to the millions, no one can fault a guy for doing what they need to do to protect their best chance at making life-altering wealth.
Watching former potential high draft picks such as Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith and Michigan tight end Jake Butt suffer torn ACLs in their respective final bowl game appearances only provides more fear to those who think the risk is not worth it.
And these players suffered their respective injuries in two of college football’s most meaningful games, the Fiesta Bowl and the Orange Bowl.
If the player wants to play a big game, have fun with his friends and compete in what will be a memorable life experience, he should treat the Gas-X Bowl the same as the Rose Bowl and play.
If the player is all about getting paid, he should treat the Cotton Bowl the same as the Viagra Bowl, and don’t fall for the title.
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 2:39 PM.
