Kirk Ferentz, Iowa Players Support Noah Fant’s Decision

Gibsonian said:
Can't say for sure what I would do in this situation but Hockenson made it clear that he wanted to play in the bowl game with his teammates and his focus would be on that. I am glad that there are players that are looking at the NFL and still want to play their possible last college game of their lives.

This kind of thinking from TJ might be one of the reasons that he was able to have such a great season and received all of the snaps and throws that he did this year.

Couple different mentalities here and I know the one that I admire the most.
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Uh, if you'll remember, Noah was in concussion protocol earlier this season. He maybe ALREADY took a risk finishing out the season in the first place. He may be dealing with other nagging injuries, which is not something you would publicize in "justifying" your choice.

I 100 percent wish he was playing in the bowl game and coming back for the 2019 season. But, I 1-billion percent understand AND support the choice he made.
 
PCHawk said:
Because most guys who play at this level love the game, love the competition, and love their team. I'm sure that's why TJ is playing in it.
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TJH isn't projected to be a high first-round draft pick with a lot of guaranteed money on the line at this point. Plus, he has two years of eligibility remaining to Fant's one. If you're projected to be a high first-round pick and get hurt, you stand to lose a ton of money, as I referenced Jaylon Smith situation and others have said about Jake Butt.

Drew Ott is apples to Fant's oranges because he wasn't a first-round pick.

Perhaps TJH can elevate himself in the draft if he chooses to go after the bowl game. In fact, I think he can and would. He's ready to go. He's just not projected at this point to go where Fant is. That's the difference.

Watch the video. His teammates explain why they understand him leaving. Heck, Render even brings up Jake Butt in the interview I did with him.

It's fine if you wouldn't do the same thing and risk upwards of $30M. I'm sure some of his teammates might do the same thing. But they're not sore because he's skipping the bowl. They understand.
 
PCHawk said:
Maybe if more people start skipping bowl games, they will start having them right after the season instead of a stupid month layoff.
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If they just went to a 24-team playoff, with Top 8 (however you want to compile that Top 8) getting byes, we'd solve this. One-week layoff after Thanksgiving weekend, bag the conference CGs and divisional formats, scuttle the 14-team conferences to make a "Power 8", or whatever, and this would be moot.

After all, when's the last time you saw a guy say, "I'm skipping March Madness to concentrate on the NBA draft"?
 
hawkeyebob62 said:
If they just went to a 24-team playoff, with Top 8 (however you want to compile that Top 8) getting byes, we'd solve this. One-week layoff after Thanksgiving weekend, bag the conference CGs and divisional formats, scuttle the 14-team conferences to make a "Power 8", or whatever, and this would be moot.

After all, when's the last time you saw a guy say, "I'm skipping March Madness to concentrate on the NBA draft"?
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While we are at it, the NCAA basketball tournament needs to add another week and go to 256 teams. I don't know about you guys, but I, for one, am sick and tired of Iowa not being in the tournament. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find enough people to do a Big Ten or NIT Tournament bracket?
 
okeefe4prez said:
While we are at it, the NCAA basketball tournament needs to add another week and go to 256 teams. I don't know about you guys, but I, for one, am sick and tired of Iowa not being in the tournament. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find enough people to do a Big Ten or NIT Tournament bracket?
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My NIT bracket tends to get blown up when I overlook the Stonybrooks and the like...
 
RobHowe said:
TJH isn't projected to be a high first-round draft pick with a lot of guaranteed money on the line at this point. Plus, he has two years of eligibility remaining to Fant's one. If you're projected to be a high first-round pick and get hurt, you stand to lose a ton of money, as I referenced Jaylon Smith situation and others have said about Jake Butt.

Drew Ott is apples to Fant's oranges because he wasn't a first-round pick.

Perhaps TJH can elevate himself in the draft if he chooses to go after the bowl game. In fact, I think he can and would. He's ready to go. He's just not projected at this point to go where Fant is. That's the difference.

Watch the video. His teammates explain why they understand him leaving. Heck, Render even brings up Jake Butt in the interview I did with him.

It's fine if you wouldn't do the same thing and risk upwards of $30M. I'm sure some of his teammates might do the same thing. But they're not sore because he's skipping the bowl. They understand.
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Well that's a way better response than a picture of some fruit . So the main difference that makes it apples to oranges is draft position. That's true. Do you think TJ wouldn't play in the bowl if he passed projected where Fant was? Saying you owe everything to the program makes me think he would be back either way.

And I know all about balancing the risk of injury with enjoying life. I do manual labor. If I blow out a knee, it would financially cripple my family with 4 kids. Because of that I dont play rec basketball. The risk wasn't worth the reward. But i do still play sand volleyball because it's too fun to give up.

Again, it's not like I dont get Fant's decision. I just wouldn't do it. And there is a pretty high percentage of football players that agree with me. There are plenty that agree with Fant too. It's just annoying that so many on here act like one decision is stupid and the other is a no brainer. One way might be a no brainer for you (it is for me) but it's not for everyone.
 
PCHawk said:
Well that's a way better response than a picture of some fruit . So the main difference that makes it apples to oranges is draft position. That's true. Do you think TJ wouldn't play in the bowl if he passed projected where Fant was? Saying you owe everything to the program makes me think he would be back either way.

And I know all about balancing the risk of injury with enjoying life. I do manual labor. If I blow out a knee, it would financially cripple my family with 4 kids. Because of that I dont play rec basketball. The risk wasn't worth the reward. But i do still play sand volleyball because it's too fun to give up.

Again, it's not like I dont get Fant's decision. I just wouldn't do it. And there is a pretty high percentage of football players that agree with me. There are plenty that agree with Fant too. It's just annoying that so many on here act like one decision is stupid and the other is a no brainer. One way might be a no brainer for you (it is for me) but it's not for everyone.
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The fruit picture was in response to comparing Drew Ott to Fant.

I don't think a high percentage of players that agree with you. There are 32 players across the country from thousands that play college football that are drafted each year in the first round (guaranteed money). Among them, there is a even smaller group that's projected as being a Top 10-15 pick, where the money is crazy. Fant has a high first round projection. He's in elite and rare company. We've given you examples of guys that lost a lot of money.

For the record, I never called anyone stupid or an idiot because he would want to play in a bowl instead of what Fant is doing. To each his own. This is the trend. Look at the other projected high picks this year skipping bowls. I think the players in the locker room with them in college, as evidenced by what the Iowa players said in this video, understand Fant's position. In a 10-year window, you're talking about 100-150 kids in his shoes. Again, rare.
 
CP87 said:
Jake Duzey lost his senior year due to an injury in spring ball, probably cost him an NFL career.
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That is kinda my point with the Ott post. You can get hurt any time. Your odds of getting hurt during the bowl are way less than your odds of getting hurt during your entire senior (or junior) year. If you aren't going to play the bowl, why play Nebraska? If you aren't going to play Nebraska, why play Illinois?

I also get the point that top 10 picks get more money. But you are talking about a ton of money either way. There are the 2 examples of high profile guys losing money because they got hurt in bowl games. But there are countless future NFLers that never made it because they got hurt in college before the bowl.

Don Patterson talked in a podcast about a reason to come back is you only get to play in college once. When it's gone, you never get it back. Hell how many guys on here would love to go back and relive their high school football days?
 
PCHawk said:
That is kinda my point with the Ott post. You can get hurt any time. Your odds of getting hurt during the bowl are way less than your odds of getting hurt during your entire senior (or junior) year. If you aren't going to play the bowl, why play Nebraska? If you aren't going to play Nebraska, why play Illinois?

I also get the point that top 10 picks get more money. But you are talking about a ton of money either way. There are the 2 examples of high profile guys losing money because they got hurt in bowl games. But there are countless future NFLers that never made it because they got hurt in college before the bowl.

Don Patterson talked in a podcast about a reason to come back is you only get to play in college once. When it's gone, you never get it back. Hell how many guys on here would love to go back and relive their high school football days?
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Certainly valid points. But consider Shonn Greene. It's no secret that he didn't come back in 2008 to excel in the classroom. He struck while the iron was hot, and would have been a fool to stay, in one sense. On the other hand, if he stays, what could 2009 have been?
 
PCHawk said:
Because most guys who play at this level love the game, love the competition, and love their team. I'm sure that's why TJ is playing in it.
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And fant doesn’t? You think this was easy for him and others? I find it unreal so many don’t get this. There is simply way too much to lose in playing. If projected as a fifth rounder, play the game and let your hair hang out. Third rd, go for it. Top 10 pick. No freaking way. Generational money. He’ll have teammates and memories in the nfl too. This is a no brainer folks
 
PCHawk said:
That is kinda my point with the Ott post. You can get hurt any time. Your odds of getting hurt during the bowl are way less than your odds of getting hurt during your entire senior (or junior) year. If you aren't going to play the bowl, why play Nebraska? If you aren't going to play Nebraska, why play Illinois?

I also get the point that top 10 picks get more money. But you are talking about a ton of money either way. There are the 2 examples of high profile guys losing money because they got hurt in bowl games. But there are countless future NFLers that never made it because they got hurt in college before the bowl.

Don Patterson talked in a podcast about a reason to come back is you only get to play in college once. When it's gone, you never get it back. Hell how many guys on here would love to go back and relive their high school football days?
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Because the projections just came out. He had to build it first
 
oldhawk12 said:
And fant doesn’t? You think this was easy for him and others? I find it unreal so many don’t get this. There is simply way too much to lose in playing. If projected as a fifth rounder, play the game and let your hair hang out. Third rd, go for it. Top 10 pick. No freaking way. Generational money. He’ll have teammates and memories in the nfl too. This is a no brainer folks
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Lol it's a no brainer for some to leave and it's a no brainer for some to come back. It would be a no brainer for you to leave and it would be a no brainer for me to come back.
 
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