Sitting Out of Bowl Games
I used to be very decided on this topic, and judged players heavily who would abandon their teams in the biggest game of the season for selfish gain. Several factors have now changed, making this decision and judgement not so simple anymore.
Now I kind of sit more where Mario Cristobal does. I won’t judge anybody for their decisions, but I would encourage players to finish out the season and see the entire season through.
I will take a moment to defend players who do choose to sit out, because to some, the draft money is literally life changing. I will NEVER advise somebody to not take life changing money and go change your life and your family’s life. Before there were NIL deals and players could get in trouble for accepting Cheeseburgers from McDonalds, it completely made sense to sit out. There was no back up plan. If you were the best player in college, then got hurt in a bowl game, tough shit. The NFL won’t just draft and pay you the same because of what you were before the injury. So how could we expect players to sacrifice literally everything to watch them play in one more game?
Luckily now, players can get paid and accept money while playing in college. So yes, going to the NFL is still the end goal. But not all players have to rely so heavily on an NFL contract to support their families. It is a little easier to judge someone when their entire livelihood and financial well being are not on the line.