Iowa cornerback Desmond King could announce Friday he decided to skip the Outback Bowl to focus on the NFL Draft — and I wouldn’t have an issue with it. If Allen Lazard gets Iowa State to a bowl game next year and decides he wants to not play in the game, who can blame him?
Skipping bowl games has been the hot topic this week after Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and LSU’s Leonard Fournette started a trend around college football.
Put me in the player’s corner on this one.
King didn’t have to return to Iowa City this season and play for the Hawks. He could have been drafted in the top three rounds last year after leading Iowa to a 12-2 season and winning the Jim Thorpe Award.
King decided to come back, graduate and give the school 12 more games. He doesn’t owe Iowa anything else. And he certainly doesn’t owe the fans another game.
Playing in the Outback Bowl, which is essentially an exhibition game at this point, put him at a bigger risk for the next level.
Last year, Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith was injured in the Fighting Irish’s bowl game. He was a bonafide first-round draft pick before the injury but slipped in the draft because of it. Smith is still making plenty of money, but the injury cost him around $15 million.
That’s life changing money for anyone.
It is easy for someone like me to criticize these guys for deciding to not take a risk at a serious injury.
McCaffrey and Fournette have been hit a thousand times while playing at their respective schools. Running backs get hit more than any other player on the field. So I understand the decision.
I would hope the same people criticizing the players for this decision are also blasting coaches who find better jobs at the end of the regular season and don’t coach their current team in the bowl game.
What is the difference?
I don’t buy the, “you’re quitting on your team argument.” Most of their teammates would do the same thing if put in the same position. And the teammates of both players have come in full support, too.
The creation of the College Football Playoff has changed things.
The playoff games and maybe the New Years Six games are the only ones that really aren’t bonafide exhibition games at this point.
You could even argue that Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeye program benefits more long term from King getting drafted and playing well in the NFL and Iowa losing in the Outback Bowl than they do if King plays, gets hurt and Iowa wins.
Athletes who play at power five schools are interested in two things: Winning a national title and getting drafted.
The only thing that can now be accomplished for McCaffrey or Fournette is getting drafted. If they were playing in the playoff, neither player would be skipping out on the bowl game and you can take that to the bank.
I see it both ways. As a football fan, I would love to see McCaffrey play one more game. But it’s not about me.
And to those college coaches who are coming out and saying that these kids skipping out on bowl games is sad, I expect you to stay at your schools and not jump for more money or a bigger institution for the rest of your life.
I wasn’t fortunate enough to be in a position to play for any college team let alone the NFL. If I was, I would probably play in the bowl game. I can’t guarantee that though.
So if an elite player on a college football team doesn’t want to risk his future for one game that means next to nothing for that program, I don’t fault them. You shouldn’t either.
Contact Troy Hyde at
thyde@newtondailynews.com