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Would You Care If A Kansas State Wildcat Sat Out Bowl Game?
Imagine buying plane tickets, game tickets, hotel rooms, meals and then finding out your favorite Kansas State football player decided to sit out.
How do you feel about college football stars skipping their team’s bowl game?
Kansas State star senior defensive end Jordan Willis is getting ready for the NFL draft but he will play one more time in Kansas State purple on December 28.
Others players have opted not to play one more time.
On Monday, Stanford star running back Christian McCaffrey announced he was sitting out the team’s Citrus Bowl battle against North Carolina to get ready for the NFL draft.
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McCaffrey had previously announced he was skipping his senior year to enter the NFL draft. He was the 2015 Heisman Trophy runner up and his body is a valuable commodity.
He wants to protect it. That makes sense.
In addition to McCaffery, LSU running back Leonard Fournette will sit out the 19th-ranked Tigers’ match-up with No. 15 Louisville in the Citrus Bowl. That will end his college football career.
He’s had a bad ankle and wants to get healthy for the NFL draft. That makes sense.
Baylor’s Shock Linwood is no McCaffery or Fournette but he is the Bear’s career rushing touchdown leader and he is also skipping their Cactus bowl game against Boise State.
Linwood is also thinking of his value in the NFL draft.
While I realize these players have to protect their bodies for the future, I don’t like the trend. I’m sure advertisers don’t either.
Preparing the big NFL payday is their right and there is always a chance for a career-ending injury.
However, why is every decision based on cash? Don’t players care about their team, their university and the fans that travel and pay the bill to watch them play?
If I’m a bowl game sponsor, television or radio advertiser, this is a trend you have to consider. Maybe your dollars are better spent elsewhere?
Will fans tune in to listen to or watch Stanford without McCaffrey? Those who live and die for any and all college football will watch but his McCaffrey’s decision will have an impact on the overall size of the audience.
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The decision to skip the game by these three will also continue a trend-a disturbing trend that I understand but I don’t like.
Star players sitting out their team’s bowl game may have a far more dramatic impact on post-season college football than we realize today.
It will be interesting in a couple of years to see what impact this has on bowl games and the number of post-season games.
So far, no player in Manhattan or College Station has announced they are skipping the Texas Bowl.
When the Wildcats and Aggies kick it off in Houston, all the big names are expected to play.
