As most of us are gearing up for the holidays, college football players are preparing to play in their team’s bowl game. Except for two, that is. College running back standouts, Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and LSU’s Leonard Fournette have chosen to sit out the final games of their college careers to prepare for the upcoming NFL Draft. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, seeing as running backs have the shortest shelf life in the NFL and players don’t want to risk getting hurt, but the announcement didn’t sit well with everyone. I took to Twitter to express my thoughts on the issue.
— Christian McCaffrey (@CMccaffrey5) December 19, 2016
A developing trend… https://t.co/j0sfqugp5m
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) December 19, 2016
NFL-bound players skipping Bowl games probably won’t be trend for all positions, but see it for RBs, shortest NFL shelf life, greatest risk.
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) December 19, 2016
Note: most NFL-bound players not in Bowl games are already into their pre-Draft prep, at training facilities, signed w/agents, etc.
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) December 19, 2016
What I know: A player’s earning power is incredibly limited and the NFL shows no sympathy when your time is up. Get yours while you can.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 19, 2016
The Business of Sports. So many players, so few jobs. https://t.co/srwYtMD7LA
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) December 19, 2016
Another thought re Fournette/McCaffrey: were they baseball/basketball/hockey/tennis/golf student-athletes, would have been long gone by now.
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) December 20, 2016
I’ve been on management: we hesitated giving RBs second, let alone third contracts. Fournette/McCaffrey have more risk than other positions.
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) December 20, 2016
@AndrewBrandt do u think teams will hold this against them when ranking draft status. They could look at them as not team guys or selfish
— Michael Neville (@mkneville52) December 20, 2016
Will have zero effect on draft status. Teams may profess otherwise, but they get it.
It’s a business. https://t.co/rosAKn9uO6— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) December 20, 2016
@AndrewBrandt @Fmiller79 Andrew I respect you and love your insight, but I think teams will hold it against them. lot of ex-players in mngt
— E Man Farness (@LuckydogEman) December 21, 2016
Disagree. Teams have evolved, only a few Neaderthals left. https://t.co/Z4NAQsATPv
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) December 21, 2016
This week I also sat down with Ahmad Nassar for The Business of Sports podcast. Nassar is the President of NFL Players Inc., which is the for-profit, commercial arm of the NFLPA. Nassar provided an inside look into NFL Players Inc. as well as a preview for what’s to come for them in 2017.
