Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Then it's not a good "business" to get into, right?

It is a joke, and I use it a lot. My youngest is getting married on July 5th next year. The nerve!!

I can tell you that missing a game, for any reason, was not tolerated or allowed when I grew up. I also carried this with me to when I raised my own. If you join a team, you play for the team. There is no excuse (unless hospitalized or attending a funeral or wedding).

It's not that big a deal, and the sun will still rise on those campuses, but I'm with you on this.  It's a crappy thing to do to your teammates.
At Maryland we seem to lose a lot of athletes who go pro early.  I understand and accept the argument that you can't turn down millions of dollars if they are available.  But this seems different to me.  It's letting down your teammates by not showing up when you committed to showing up.  Like I said, the sun will still, rise, but...
A guy like Will Grier knew a long time ago that he had a shot at the NFL.  What's so special about skipping this particular game?  Why not bag the season after it was clear that they weren't going make the playoffs, or win the conference?  Why even come back for the season at all?  Some of this still puzzles me.

A guy like Will Grier knew a long time ago that he had a shot at the NFL.  What's so special about skipping this particular game?  Why not bag the season after it was clear that they weren't going make the playoffs, or win the conference?  Why even come back for the season at all?  Some of this still puzzles me.

That's been my big question all along.  For example, if Justin Layne is going to skip the bowl, why did he play against Rutgers, or even Nebraska for that matter?  MSU was 6-4 going into Nebraska.  They had already clinched a bowl bid, they weren't winning any title, so how are those games any more important than the bowl game?  I have yet to hear a convincing answer other than "they aren't."  So I'm assuming that's the next step?  To me the only logical answer is "I get it, but I don't like it."  Are high school kids going to start sitting out once they commit to programs?  Is that going to worry college teams?  I don't know the answer.  I think the only thing that might change it is NFL teams saying they are marking that as a yellow flag as to how those players will treat a contract year for them

I would like to add that Anonymous Coward's thoughts on this subject definitely resonate and strike a chord  with me (gee, can I think of another cliche?).  I honestly don't know how I feel about this.  And who really cares what I think, anyway?  I'm not even sure I do!

 I think the only thing that might change it is NFL teams saying they are marking that as a yellow flag as to how those players will treat a contract year for them

Problem is they effed it up themselves by throwing guaranteed cash at free agents instead of implementing an incentive based pay scale 

If I had a son positioned to be a 1st day pick in the draft and the team was playing in a fairly meaningless bowl game, I would probably counsel him to sit it out.

I'd let him decide on his own, but if he asked, I would say sit.

Meanwhile, I'd rather not call out these sitting players as exhibiting poor principles. But if a person insists on going that way, it's impossible without highlighting that the system they play in, that arbitrarily refuses their access to personal market value, has an equal and opposite lack of principles.

Exactly. I don't like it at all. I personally, from an emotional perspective, consider them as quitting on their teammates. It grates at me.
But I have to look at the bigger picture, and realize that even though I don't like what they're doing, they're basically locked into a crap system that puts all the risk [injury] on their shoulders and doesn't adequately compensate for that risk. I can't blame them for doing what is best for them, when the system is designed to make it impossible for playing the game to be what's best for them.