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Bowing Out of Bowl Games

12/30/2016

7 Comments

 
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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

Given the growth in college football bowl games over the past decade, even the most passionate fans must decide which of this season’s 41 post-season contests they will watch on TV and which they will forgo.  However, fans aren’t the only ones making tough choices about bowl games.  Even some players are deciding whether or not they will participate in their own teams’ games.

Aside from the very few NCAA Division I programs that can compete for a national championship, winning a bowl game is the pinnacle accomplishment for most college football teams.   In the past, players, would never miss their bowl games, unless they were kept out, for instance, because of injury, violation of school policy, etc.  Furthermore, most elite athletes love to compete.  Whether it’s preseason or the playoffs, if there’s a game going on, they want to be part of it.
 
Why, then, would some of college football’s top players choose to sit out their teams’ bowl games?  To understand, one needs to consider the two most notable cases: Running backs Christian McCaffrey of Stanford Leonard Fournette of LSU have opted to sit out of the Sun Bowl and Citrus Bowl respectively, saying they want to start preparing for their likely NFL careers and avoid the risk of injury that comes with bowl game competition.
 
In its analysis of the 2017 NFL Draft, Sports Illustrated has estimated that Fournette and McCaffrey will be chosen second and third among all eligible running backs.  In the 2016 NFL Draft, only one running back was chosen in the first round.  He was Ezekiel Elliott, who the Dallas Cowboys took with the fourth overall pick and signed to a four-year, $24.9 million contract.  In a recent 2017 NFL mock draft, CBS Sports predicted that the Indianapolis Colts would take Fournette 13th overall, while the New England Patriots might choose McCaffrey with the 31st pick of the first round.  However exactly the draft plays out, both young men are looking at sizeable paydays.

Most of us haven’t had the opportunity to land jobs that pay many millions of dollars a year or to reach the pinnacle of our professions while still in our twenties, so we probably shouldn’t be too quick to judge these young men’s decisions.  Likewise, football is a dangerous sport in which players often get hurt.  Some injuries are minor, but others can end a player’s season or even his playing career.

For example, in the first quarter of the 2016 Fiesta Bowl, Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith suffered serious tears to two knee ligaments, which ended his college career and caused his draft stock to slip from a likely top-five pick to a second round choice, where the Dallas Cowboys selected him.  While it’s still questionable whether Smith will ever reprise his former dominance, the Cowboys do expect him to play next season.
 
All said, it’s understandable that players who have the potential to play football professionally don’t want to take any unnecessary risks.  On the other hand, by forgoing their teams’ bowl games, there are other consequences these talented athletes may not be taking into account that could both impact their future football careers and carry significant negative consequences for others.
 
While these players are safeguarding their physical well-beings,  they may not be fully considering how their decisions are shaping their personal brands, which are increasingly important for professional athletes.  Others may start to see the bowl-bystanders as individuals who think of themselves first, who are inclined to dial back effort when personally advantageous, and who won’t sacrifice self for the interest of the team.  All of these are undesirable reputations, especially when competing in team sports at a professional level.  In fact, such perceptions of a player could easily raise red flags for prospective NFL front offices and coaches.

There’s also the impact that the players’ nonparticipation has on others.  Division 1-A football teams often have 85 or more players; although, on average about 55 see playing time.  Still, that’s many young men depending on others to excel at their positions.  With 11 players per side on every down and positions as specialized as left tackle and strong safety, football is in many ways the quintessential team sport, in which substitutions across positions are usually very hard to make.

As mentioned above, most of these elite college athletes want nothing more than to win, especially in the last game of their season, which for some is also the final contest of their football careers.  After starting in a Pop Warner league and practicing faithfully throughout middle school and high school, they made it to the top of the college ranks, where they again worked hard for years, for their own love of the game, but also for the benefit of their teammates and schools.  The final wish of virtually all of these players is to leave the game on top—to go out a winner, which is not easy when competing against another outstanding team, especially in the absence of one of your team’s best players.
 
Of course, the football programs and their schools also suffer when they don’t win or they get badly beaten in a bowl game.  High school recruits watch these games, which help them decide for whom they want to play.  Likewise, although every season is different, bowl selection committees probably remember from year to year which teams tend to bring their ‘A-games’ when invited to play on a national stage.  With that consideration also comes the fact that college bowl games are significant sources of revenue for the conferences that participate in them.  For instance, conferences receive “$4 million for each team that plays in a non-playoff bowl.”

One also can’t help but wonder what the fate of college football will be if opting out of bowl games becomes a trend.  These contests will really lose their luster if more and more top players decide not to participate in them.  And, the temptation to sit-out could extend even earlier, for instance, players pulling out of conference championships or final regular season games for similar self-centered reasons.  If the level of competition declines, so will fan and advertiser interest, which is the death knell for any major sport.
 
Given this likely fallout for their teammates and their schools, as well as because they are grateful for the scholarships they’ve received, some players believe they have a duty to play in their teams’ bowl games.  One such player is Clemson safety Jadar Johnson, who says:
 
“A school gives you an opportunity to play football and gives you an education for free, and you’re already worrying about the next level? I just feel like that’s just thinking too far ahead,” he said. “It’s really a privilege to play college football. There’s a lot of people who wish they were in your situation. I’ve got people I played with in high school who didn’t get a chance to play college football at all. They still dream about it every day. They go into work every day dreaming, wishing to play college football.”
“No matter how big the bowl is, that’s still a big game,” he said. “You win that as a team, and you’ll still celebrate it like it’s the biggest game of your career. You just say you don’t want to play in it? That’s not me.”

 
Johnson, by the way, will be playing in at least one post-season contest this college football season.  His second ranked Clemson Tigers take on #3 Ohio State in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, one of the semifinal games of the College Football Playoff.  Also, CBS Sports predicts that Johnson will be the 11th strong safety chosen in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Most of us market ourselves in one way or another.  Elite college athletes about to enter the NFL draft certainly do, which also comes with tough decisions about their football futures.  It’s tragic when any one of these young men suffers a serious injury ahead of a promising professional career.  However, they also need to consider the consequences their decisions have for their personal brands as well as the impact on many others.  For these reasons, the choice to opt out of a college bowl game isn’t a play that’s fair to others; rather it’s a personal foul worthy of a flag for “Mindless Marketing.”

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7 Comments
Ryan Sum Ze Yang link
1/7/2017 10:01:56 am

I wouldn't say that opting out of certain bowl games is considered mindless marketing. Without any in-game experience in football, there is no way we as fans or "outsiders" to this sport can judge the players' decisions. Although they are losing stockholder values by being absent at a game, they have to also worry about their own well-being for their future. Therefore, there is some upholding of societal values. It shows the fans that you don't have to go head-first into any situation, but to think of the consequences from their actions. As Carlson Gracie said, “there is no reward without any sacrifice in life.” With that said, my opinion for this blog post is it shows simple-minded marketing instead of mindless marketing.

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Morgan Reifsteck
1/7/2017 11:02:59 am

I have heard a lot of back and forth comments on this topic and one that I still struggle to decide which side I want to take. I totally agree with Clemson's safety Jadar Johnson. It is a privilege to play a college sport and that is something we talk about on the lacrosse team here at Messiah. I also think that it is your duty and responsibility to play in every game and give it your all. These running backs that opted to sit out of their bowl game is very selfish to me. It is not fair to any of their teammates who have depended on them all season long and then the last game of their college career they want to sit out because of the NFL draft. It is also not a guarantee that they will get drafted where they want to go. They are supposed to be drafted in the first 15 in the first round but say that doesn't happen. Say they for some reason go second round or not even at all. They would have let both of their teams down who ended up losing in both of their bowl games this year who were so reliant on them during the entire season.
I was watching ESPN when they were talking about this situation and one of them said that they would be more okay with their decision if it were closer to the draft time. The draft is so many months ahead that they have more than enough time to prepare themselves. However, I do understand that if they would have had a career ending injury that they would have severely suffered in the draft but that could have happened during any game this season. That is why I think that they should have played in their bowl games and finished out their careers with their teams that they have given so much time and energy to over the past four years. I think they both owed that to their teammates and coaching staff. I think this was Mindless because this is the first time that college players have opted out of their bowl games because of the draft so it goes against societal values and it does not create stakeholder value. I think it hurts the stakeholder value because I know for me personally I would not be proud if one of the players on my favorite college team opted out because they were thinking about themselves in the upcoming draft.

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Lyd Harris
1/7/2017 12:32:11 pm

After looking at all different sides and aspects of this issue, I agree that I can't really see the decision to not play in bowl games to be anything other than mindless. From what I can see, the only good side to skipping the game(s) is that you know you won't be getting injured. But, I believe that the amount of downsides to skipping heavily outweighs the fact of no injury.
First of all, they are ultimately letting their team and on a bigger picture, their school, down. Players have the chance to get injured during ANY game of their career. The bowl game is nothing more special - it's just the fact they are at the end of the season. If you could get injured during any game, then why not just sit out during every game of the season? --that's exactly where this kind of mindset can extend to. It seems fairly selfish.
Second of all, this article even states how opting out of the game can shape their personal brand. Prospective NFL coaches can see that the players are opting out of the game and instead focusing on their personal careers and futures. These coaches can see the players are reluctant to give 100% to their team when personal goals may be met, which isn't desirable of a team player. Therefore, not playing in the game can even raise flags for the NFL coaches they are trying to impress.
Coming from personal sports experience, I went to a small Christian school and played soccer and basketball ever since 8 years old. Through middle and high school we had the chance to make it to 15 league championships. We made it to 14, and won 9 of them. I was blessed to play alongside some of the best athletes my school had ever seen. Therefore, through high school we had many college coaches come and watch us, and usually interview a couple of us after the games. Coach had instilled in us that playing sports - even just high school level - is a complete privilege and choice. Don't take it for granted. He never had to teach us that the team comes first, through our playing style and our personalities it just naturally came. Nobody wanted to skip games, even when it came close to the end of the season and many of us were getting college offers. Personally, I couldn't imagine skipping a championship game either. I would constantly have what-ifs running through my mind. If I would have played, would we have won? Would I have done ___ that another coach could've seen and I could get an even better offer? Sitting out of a big game, while it could've been advantageously for me physically, would've ended up killing me inside.
Playing sports, no matter what level, is a privilege. Some people simply aren't athletic, others may have medical conditions and never get the opportunity to play. If more players start hopping on this bandwagon, it will only have negative effects for college football. While it's the safe option out personally for the players, in the end it hurts a lot more people than they even realize.

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Adam Sylvester
1/7/2017 02:37:28 pm

I agree that opting out of bowl games should be considered mindless marketing because all parties involved are affected negatively by the players decision. The player markets himself in a way that appears selfish and disloyal to his teammates regardless of their justifications or excuses. It also hurts the school because it takes away revenue from them because people often watch games to see a specific athlete play. Even if the team itself is not great, fans will pay to attend or watch a game if their is even one player worth watching. When an athlete chooses not to play they are abandoning their responsibility and opportunity given to them by the school. If the school announced they were removing a players scholarship for a week that would certainly be mindless, and in the same so is the athlete who abandons his school.
The trend of this also poses a threat to the NCAA and even to high schools. If college athletes decide to sit out to prepare themselves for the next level then why shouldn't high school students? Injuries can occur at any age and I can think of numerous high school stars who were already projected to be professionals who got hurt and their career was over before it began. The athletes are not seeing the ripple affect that can come from their decision which is another reason it's mindless marketing; their only thinking about themselves.
A player should take many precautions when playing sports, but just like anything in life you can only be so careful. Accidents will happen but as you still have a responsibility to finish what you started, especially when you were given a full education for free in return. Many college athletes also take out injury insurance for themselves, as jaylen smith did, to get the full amount of money they were projected to get in case of an injury. All these factors make it clear that this is mindless marketing.

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Zach Smith
1/8/2017 11:22:38 am

One of my favorite parts of late December and early January happens to be the bowl season of College Football. Like the article says, there are plenty of different games I could watch but I have to decide which games I think will be the most entertaining. Most often, those games are the ones which pit the teams with the highest caliber players and teams against each other. The timing of which these college athletes declare they are opting out of their bowl games, which is after it’s been decided what teams are playing in each game, is inopportune for everyone. If players do feel the need to “protect” themselves for their potential NFL careers, they should make the announcement before the games are decided. Doing this allows the selection committee to take into account the players absence from the team before selecting them to a bowl game. With that being said, I do believe this falls under mindless marketing because sitting out of a bowl game lowers stakeholder value for everyone involved in the process. It doesn’t support the ethical aspect either due to a lack of fairness to then players’ teammates and the viewers. However, we need to be an ethical audience and respect these players’ decisions because we don’t know what is best for them.
Another point I think is important to bring up is the fact that these college football players are STUDENT athletes; the student aspect is put first for a reason. Therefore, I think the players should be willing to play in bowl games because they should have a backup plan in the form of their education. Obviously it won’t earn them as much money as being a professional athlete, but having something is better than nothing.

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Adam Black
1/8/2017 09:23:20 pm

The College Football Playoff is one of the most anticipated events in the sports world, and can really launch a young athletes career into a large, national spotlight. Like Clemson safety Jadar Johnson said: many high school football players can only dream of playing college football. When players like Fournette and McCaffery, who have excelled in the sport and launched themselves into the national spotlight, take that opportunity for granted, it upsets more than just the players. Fans are eager to see intense competition between some of the nation's top young athletes, and when they opt to sit out for the sake of the NFL draft, it dramatically drops the number of viewers for those bowl games. Lots of fans plan to watch that game specifically to watch the athlete perform at top level. Also, if they had a strong school spirit for their university, they would do anything to bring a bowl title back to their school. Bowl titles are highly coveted in college football and, as the article states, is the pinnacle of college football accomplishments for a school. Next, these bowl games can really boost a player's draft stock, showing and affirming their ability to perform against some of the nation's top talents and how they perform in the clutch, both qualities that are key for NFL scouts. Finally, some of these star athletes who sit out of bowl games aren't seniors and won't graduate college because they decide to leave to pursue a career in professional football. The NFL is an extremely strenuous and demanding business. There is plenty of young talent and older talent competing for the same job as these young athletes that doesn't guarantee a long, abundant career. Some rookies enter the NFL as a projected top-5 pick and only last in the league for a few years because there are more talented players out there. For example, former Alabama running back Trent Richardson, a Heisman Trophy candidate and a projected top-5 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, was selected 3rd by the Cleveland Browns. At Alabama, he showed tremendous promise to NFL scouts and was a highly coveted player and had potential to be an all-time great. However, his NFL career was short-lived because of his poor performance. He is now struggling to find a spot on an NFL roster and is not getting any offers. Richardson left Alabama as a Junior, never graduated and got a degree, and is now struggling to find work. I believe it is so essential for aspiring professional athletes to finish their college careers and graduate, because in a business as tough as the NFL, there is no guarantee of success.

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Hunter Brindle
1/8/2017 11:35:50 pm

Every profession requires making tough decisions and involves certain amounts of risk, and collegiate athletes trying to turn their sport into their career have no exception. Injury is an inevitable risk whenever you play sports, especially one as physical as football. It's a risk all athletes recognize. Whenever a football player decides to play football, they are saying they are willing to take that risk in order to play the game they love. They are also choosing to put their physical health on the line to help their team succeed. These college players who are electing not to play in bowl games must have forgotten about that. When you are on a team, especially a team that is paying for your education, it is your responsibility to do everything you can to help your team win. By sitting out to protect their bodies for the draft, these players are saying they are better than their team. They value the money they hope to make in the future more than being a teammate, and helping others who are counting on them. This is a very selfish thing to do, and is an example of single-minded marketing. Yes, by sitting out they are ensuring they have high value come the NFL draft, but they also fail to uphold societal values. We are taught to be selfless with our possessions and talents, and to not place money above others. The players who sat out of their bowl game to stay healthy did neither of these things, and I believe their reputations should be at least slightly tarnished for it.

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