During the 2016 college football bowl season, one of the storylines has been the decisions by star running backs like Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey to skip their team’s bowl games in order to prepare for the NFL Draft.
Those who support the decisions understand the players are skipping out on exhibition games in order to protect their future, but don’t tell Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher that some games are more important than others.
As far as Fisher is concerned, all bowl games matter.
“It’s not meaningless,” Fisher said at Thursday morning’s press conference, via ESPN.com. “You play your tails off. That’s your job, that’s what you’re supposed to do. I don’t get the meaningless part either. There’s no such thing as a meaningless bowl game.
“These games all mean something. I think they mean more than ever right now and I hope we don’t push that away and destroy a great tradition in college football.”
Fisher is a coach, so of course he would prefer his best players to suit up for the final game of the season.
But let’s be real. No one complains when star players sit out during the NFL preseason, because the games are pointless and there is no need to risk injury. During bowl season, if you’re not competing for a national championship, you’re just participating in an exhibition game that benefits no one other than the bowl sponsors and universities.
If a player wants to look out for themselves, so be it.
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