How Many Players Go Pro?

Fryowa said:
I think there are two reasons, only one of which is the fault of the NCAA.

1) Enormous guaranteed rookie contracts

2) Having over 40 bowl games and effectively no qualification criteria. It makes all bowls, even the non-CFP big ones, seem lame-o. If there were only the main six bowls and not everyone and their brother got to play in them I think it’s make players change their minds in some cases because only the theoretical top 12 teams would get to play.
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Yep. When 8 or 9 teams from a conference (or maybe even 10 in some years) go "bowling", it cheapens the crap out the "bowl system". Real simple: 32-team playoff, with first two rounds at host/higher-seed schools. Eliminate CCG games for p5, guarantee each P5 TWO entries, each G5 one entry, and GUARANTEE one of the service academies ("Commander In Chief" trophy winner), which makes 16 teams; let the "committee" pick the other 16. One stipulation: no more than ONE additional team from ANY conference, above the alloted/slotted spots.

NO guarantee for ANY independent/unaffiliated teams. And let P5 conferences figure out how their 2 "guarantee teams" are selected, let G5 have CCG if they so desire, to let them get a little "hype". If more teams come from certain conferences, so be it. Let conferences "nominate" beyond their "guarantee" teams, and committee can say "Yea" or "Nay". But stop, already, with seventh-place teams--I don't CARE what conference!--playing one single second after Thanksgiving.
 
Fryowa said:
What kind of sense does it make to risk tens of millions of dollars for a meaningless exhibition game? And yes, it’s meaningless because it isn’t a playoff game, and doesn’t have any affect on conference championships or standings.

I know we don’t like it, but there’s just too much money at stake now for rookies.

These guys should risk their entire futures so a bunch of their college buddies have a chance to win the Peach Bowl before they go off to their jobs in med sales and real estate? F that, man.

I played college sports and my teammates were all great dudes, but no fucking way am I going to risk millions over a game that’s just for funsies, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have expected any of my teammates to either. In the 80s and 90s it was a different situation altogether because you didn’t have the astronomical money at stake.

Jake Butt went from likely having enough guaranteed money to never have to work a day in his life and also set his family up for life (even if he never played a game), to making comparative chump change in NFL terms and now he’ll have to get a real job like the rest of us because he’s blown his knees out and will never see the field again. Had he not hurt himself in college he’d have had huge guaranteed cash and his later ACL tears wouldn’t have stopped him from getting paid.
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I agree. It's not the most popular thing from a fan's stanpoint but makes the most sense for NFL bound players.

Back in the day, players who came back to play one last year of college frequently took out insurance policies. One popular company was called Lloyd's of London. I remember Chuck Long taking one out when he had a chance to pro (and many thought should have) after his record setting 1984 Freedom Bowl performance.

It seems like you don't hear that much about those policies anymore. I don't know if they still exist but I do remember
  • They cost 10 grand, payable once in the NFL
  • They paid only one or two million dollars and only kicked in if
  • It was a career ending injury.
I think Fant, Higdon and others are doing the right thing. Chuck Long thrilled us with a Rose Bowl season and many memorable moments in 1985. But Mark Vlasic would have done a lot of the same things with the talent we had coming back that year. Long ended up going to Detroit, never got the coaching to correct his long slow release, got beat up before he really got his shot, and missed out on the Barry Sanders era.
 
Northside Hawk said:
I agree. It's not the most popular thing from a fan's stanpoint but makes the most sense for NFL bound players.

Back in the day, players who came back to play one last year of college frequently took out insurance policies. One popular company was called Lloyd's of London. I remember Chuck Long taking one out when he had a chance to pro (and many thought should have) after his record setting 1984 Freedom Bowl performance.

It seems like you don't hear that much about those policies anymore. I don't know if they still exist but I do remember
  • They cost 10 grand, payable once in the NFL
  • They paid only one or two million dollars and only kicked in if
  • It was a career ending injury.
I think Fant, Higdon and others are doing the right thing. Chuck Long thrilled us with a Rose Bowl season and many memorable moments in 1985. But Mark Vlasic would have done a lot of the same things with the talent we had coming back that year. Long ended up going to Detroit, never got the coaching to correct his long slow release, got beat up before he really got his shot, and missed out on the Barry Sanders era.
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https://www.foxbusiness.com/feature...from-insurance-policy-against-contract-report

https://uproxx.com/sports/nfl-draft-player-insurance-policy-injury-career-protection/

https://www.cbssports.com/college-f...uld-lead-to-more-players-skipping-bowl-games/

https://www.cbssports.com/college-f...d-the-unregulated-world-of-player-protection/

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2015/10/06/383970.htm (this article notes that the college team can actually pay the premium on such insurance policies from the NCAA's student assistance fund)
 
BVHawk95 said:
I'm not blaming them. I fully understand and respect their decisions.

I just think it's a shame that CFB and football in general has come to this.
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Hey it could be worse. At least its not like college basketball where guys leave after so-so FR years and get drafted on potential alone. I'm old enough to remember when teams actually had great JR and SR players on their teams.
 
There was actually a time when the defending NFL or super bowl champion actually played an exhibition game at Soldier Field in late July/Early August against the "college all stars". The last one took place in 1976 and it took a severe thunderstorm with high winds to finally abolish the series.

Could you imagine the NFL agreeing to do this today? They would have to be on drugs. No team would risk injury to their own players or the incoming rookies in a game like this. And the NFL teams couldn't get their top players into camp until that game was over. The team that played that game, in 1976's case the Steelers, would play against their own future teammates in a real exhibition game, then pick them up after the game and bring them into camp.

The NFL has progressed from those years. Many used to play in dual purpose baseball stadiums, poor sight lines, infield dirt and all. When the Raiders leave for Las Vegas that will be the end of the that era as well.
 
Northside Hawk said:
There was actually a time when the defending NFL or super bowl champion actually played an exhibition game at Soldier Field in late July/Early August against the "college all stars". The last one took place in 1976 and it took a severe thunderstorm with high winds to finally abolish the series.

Could you imagine the NFL agreeing to do this today? They would have to be on drugs. No team would risk injury to their own players or the incoming rookies in a game like this. And the NFL teams couldn't get their top players into camp until that game was over. The team that played that game, in 1976's case the Steelers, would play against their own future teammates in a real exhibition game, then pick them up after the game and bring them into camp.

The NFL has progressed from those years. Many used to play in dual purpose baseball stadiums, poor sight lines, infield dirt and all. When the Raiders leave for Las Vegas that will be the end of the that era as well.
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Here's some video from that last NFL vs College All Star game in 1976. No sound apparently. The rain just keeps coming down and the fans go crazy once the game is called. Amazing.

 
westender said:
Hockenson will go. Too many awards not to. Strike while the iron is hottest. Wish it weren't that way, but I bet he goes too.
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I hate to see this, buts it’s a hard truth. Once you’ve won the Mackey, what’s else is there?
 
Northside Hawk said:
There was actually a time when the defending NFL or super bowl champion actually played an exhibition game at Soldier Field in late July/Early August against the "college all stars". The last one took place in 1976 and it took a severe thunderstorm with high winds to finally abolish the series.

Could you imagine the NFL agreeing to do this today? They would have to be on drugs. No team would risk injury to their own players or the incoming rookies in a game like this. And the NFL teams couldn't get their top players into camp until that game was over. The team that played that game, in 1976's case the Steelers, would play against their own future teammates in a real exhibition game, then pick them up after the game and bring them into camp.

The NFL has progressed from those years. Many used to play in dual purpose baseball stadiums, poor sight lines, infield dirt and all. When the Raiders leave for Las Vegas that will be the end of the that era as well.
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That College All-Star Game at Soldier Field was the bomb. Official start of football season!
 
Robowe said:
Here's some video from that last NFL vs College All Star game in 1976. No sound apparently. The rain just keeps coming down and the fans go crazy once the game is called. Amazing.

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Where's Mike Curtis when you need him?

It all started when the all stars called time out, which was a hint to officials that the conditions were unplayable anyway, and two fans ran on the field. That was all it took. Sadly, there was no trunk full of disco records to detonate at midfield.

The player tackled in that shot is none other than two time heisman winner Archie Griffin from tOSU. (Note: Oklahoma's Joe Washington, #24 in this footage, deserved Griffin's second Heisman. Washington also played on a national championship team and had a much, much better NFL career.)
 
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CP87 said:
You can never go back and finish your college sports experience, though. You also miss out on finishing up your college experience with all of the friends/teammates you came in with. College is about a lot more than a piece of paper.

The experience side means a lot to some. Not as much to others.
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This is true for probably 95% of the Div-1 players.
For the other 5%, staying in school because of a blind sense of loyalty is silly.
Get into the show, come back to the school and get your degree later.
 
Seth53 said:
This is true for probably 95% of the Div-1 players.
For the other 5%, staying in school because of a blind sense of loyalty is silly.
Get into the show, come back to the school and get your degree later.
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Liberal arts and science degrees are worthless anyways. Make a few million in the NFL and live your life.
 
Jonrn said:
Liberal arts and science degrees are worthless anyways. Make a few million in the NFL and live your life.
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Excellent point, thank you.

Not all degrees are created equal and degrees created to keep players primarily eligible don't carry much weight IMO.
 
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