Jake Butt and Bowl Games
April 30th, 2017 at 12:24 AM ^
is that bowl games don't mean as much now as they used to. BCS bowl games used to feature two top 10 teams, many of whom were conference champs. I love the playoff system and am glad we are done with the BCS, but the downside of having a playoff means that other 'major' bowl games don't have nearly as much importance as they used to.
I don't think the playoff system has diminshed bowl games. I think the automatic conference bids into bowls make for uninteresting matchups. It would be a lot better if the 5th ranked team played the 6th ranked team and so on and so forth.
Players who are likely first round picks don't care about a meaningless bowl game and really it's hard to argue the point of them playing. If it's not a playoff game then they are risking a lot for nothing in the grand scheme of things.
April 30th, 2017 at 11:33 AM ^
I agree. What has diminished the bowl games is that there are 41 of them. That means 64% of the D1 teams make a bowl. That is absurd.
I have no problem for the few high profile guys that choose to sit out the meaningless games. I do expect them to play in the playoff and maybe even the other high profile games (Rose, Orange, etc). I believe Jake said if he could do it again, he would play. It's not an easy decision as most of these guys really want to be there for their teammates and school, no matter how much they have riding on their draft status.
there were lots of worthless bowl games.
April 30th, 2017 at 12:27 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Don't be a butthead
Could also be the poster child for not performing winter conditioning drills. I think people tend to forget that this is JBs second knee injury, the first injury having occurred in 2014 during winter conditioning. A non-contact injury. IOW, Butt could as easily have torn his ACL getting ready for the combine or pro-day. It well could be that JB dropped so low because not only did he have this current injury, but that he has proven to be prone to ACL injuries.
April 30th, 2017 at 12:30 AM ^
April 30th, 2017 at 11:26 AM ^
I heard during the draft yesterday that he will receive $500k from his policy for that injury that caused him to drop to the 5th rd.
April 30th, 2017 at 12:25 PM ^
I don't know how reputable Darren Rovell's sources are but he'll make an untaxed 543,000 from his insurance policy. HOWEVER, including that and his projected salary, he is still approximately losing 2.8 Million (yes million) dollars for the injury in the orange bowl.
April 30th, 2017 at 12:30 AM ^
Good business decision for some of them. Ultimately it didn't matter what everyone said about not having heart or abandoning teammates. The results show that for the guys who sat out, there was a huge upside and for a guy like Jake, though it was admirable, it cost him somewhere in the neighborhood of $3 million.
April 30th, 2017 at 12:33 AM ^
April 30th, 2017 at 12:35 AM ^
I'm a big fan of Jake Butt but(t) he was at least behind the three first round guys even if healthy.
No offense, but that is an idiotic statement to make. Learn something about how TEs get open someday and then come back to comment.
April 30th, 2017 at 12:47 AM ^
April 30th, 2017 at 12:49 AM ^
that is stupid. so if you are a really good player, once your team has no chance at a championship just dont play anymore? very few teams get to the playoffs. so if i play at indiana and have proven im an outstanding player, why risk playing at all the last half of my senior year?
April 30th, 2017 at 11:25 AM ^
What if it goes even further than that? SItting out as soon as you believe you're a draft lock...
Okay, so what player is going to go into Harbaugh's office and tell him, Hey coach, I don't want to get hurt in this game and want to stay healthy for the NFL draft.
I mean Peppers was supposed to play in the game, isn't that why he posted the video of him getting injured to disprove claims that he sat out for the hell the of it? He didn't choose to sit out, he sat out because he was hurt.
Also, the way to avoid this type of thing is to start getting into meaningful games.
Get into the Big Ten title game, no one is sitting out. Win that, and you usually will be a playoff team, and again no one is sitting out those games.
I think you really want to carve out a mentality that your players want to play in every game and win every game.
Harbaugh wants to win, I must win as he says.
Harbaugh is all about competition. He waited out a kid so he could win a game of laser tag.
In the end, maybe a scenario like this leads to players leaving after 3 years (hopefully with a degree) or the ability to finish their degree before the NFL (like Andrew Luck did).
have to pay for the insurance premiums themselves?
Myles Bridges a phone call.
At what point do you declare you aren't playing to avoid injury? Do you sit out games against IU and Illinois some November in your sophomore year because you aren't going to the playoff?
Pro sports has already ruined college basketball...Now you want to ruin football too?
Someone already addressed why Jake Butt fell and it wasn't all injury. My gut tells me most high end guys lose a round with a non-career threatening injury. That is probably less if Matt Millen is drafting.
this legal? How can the school pay for the premiums?
Why don't schools use this as a recruiting tool? Guarantee insurance amounts for players to come to their school.
Not sure where it ends to be honest...
are there meaningless bowl games? Sure... but aren't there meaningless games period?
I mean if you aren't playing for a conference championship or have been eliminated from playoff contention in october, aren't the games 'meaningless'?
Furthermore, if you're a highly rated sophomore, isn't the non playoff bowls equally meaningless? Last i checked, catastrophic injuries that can end your career are not restricted to Jrs or Seniors.. it could happen to freshman and sophomores too...
should those kids sit out? if we don't make the playoffs, shouldn't Gary sit out a "meaningless" bowl game?
The case can be made that the Rutgers game was being played for a championship, since the season ending standings (not to mention playoff entries) were still in flux.
i think the reason Newsome was suggested was that football is inherently risky and kids and get hurt any time...
Meaningless Bowl games can easily be extended to meaningless games in the regular season...
Butt getting hurt sucks and i feel bad for him... but at the same time, how many top end prospects have there been in the last twenty years that got injured in a "meaningless bowl game" that affected their draft position?
Butt? anyone else? MaGahee doesn't count, because that wasn't a 'meaningless bowl' at all.
Sure seems like the actual odds of getting a major injury that affects one's drafft position in the draft in a 'meantingless bowl' isn't particularly high.
Agreed 100%.
You can ccontinue to extend this argument beyond "meaningless" bowl games. This thread has mentioned playoffs or conference championship games, or even those that keep a team in the running for a conference e title. But what do those things even mean in the context of what these players can lose. Say it's $3 million lost, yes that's a lottery ticket gone, an enormous and life changing amount of money. What does a chance at a B1G title mean in that context? Or a B1G championship for your school or even a playoff? How many here who don't even play on the team would risk $3M for one of those things?
Alternatively, are some I this thread no longer lol'ing at Malik McDowell for seemingly phoning it in much of the year? His team was out of it, he essentially did what many are suggesting. But that certainly cost him as well.
April 30th, 2017 at 10:06 AM ^
I mentioned that I don't think sitting out will end with meaningless bowl games.
It's going to include end of season games, lower-level conference championships, etc before long.
My scenario was if Michigan goes 6-6 and misses a bowl game, how many of you would be ok with a Butt or Peppers skipping the OSU game?
As a fan, my sympathy for a players health & financial future actually dose have a limit.
Mybe if enough big-time players start skipping games & getting eventual blowback it swings the pendulum back towards the Team, and less towards celebrity athletes?
Unfortunately, all this does is signal to me that college football is inching closer & closer to the NFL, and that makes me sad.
Oklahoma DT Charles Walker seems to be a player who skipped most of his last season to avoid injury. He was projected by some as a possible first or second round draft pick early in the 2016 season. According to some of the local sports radio discussion (based on comments by coaches but never confirmed), he took himself out of the TCU game with a self-diagnosed concussion. Later Walker said he wasn't going to play at OU again and was preparing for the NFL draft and his concern was to providing support for his daughter. Mike Stoops called him out as a quitter.
More recently, his agent said he was diagnosed with depression, and some of the symptoms he was complaining about were related to depression rather than concussions. He went undrafted, and it doesn't look like he has signed as a free agent yet.
After seeing what happened in this draft, any highly rated kid who plays in non-playoff bowl game is a fool. Fournette and McCaffery were not punished AT ALL in the draft for their decision. Butt lost MILLIONS and life security. He could have retired for life on the money that he lost due to that injury.
As a college football fan it pains me to say this, but playing in a non-playoff bowl game is just a risk that is no longer worth taking. The risk is that you lose millions of dollars. The reward? You get to play one more game with your team, which is of personal value. But your team cannot win any championship or title. It is basically an exhibition game. Jake Butt just lost $2-$3 million dollars for playing in an exhibition game. Was it worth it? Hell no.
Obviously every kid will have to make their own choice. But if I were advising a kid, it seems like an obvious choice to sit out. That is the system that has been set up.
not trying to be argumentative... just genuinely curious: Has there been any other player who has gotten injured in 'meaningless bowl game' and then fell in the draft as a result of that injury?