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

Especially if we need to eat and pay December rent: It's in our nature to take that bet.

they have had room & board taken care of for decades
if they are done playing, the room & board is done

they have had room & board taken care of for decades
if they are done playing, the room & board is done

Most of them stop living in dorms after the first year and begin living in houses whose rent exceeds their standard room and board.

Most of them stop living in dorms after the first year and begin living in houses whose rent exceeds their stipend.

by their choice
some live in places that are much less than their stipend
by their choice

True. Embedded in my argument is also the idea that players want to play. Fant isn't sitting out or collecting from an agent because he stopped liking football. He's doing that because playing isn't worth it. All my posts are about making it worth it. And the answers are easy and cost the universities nothing directly.

what is it worth to the 3 guys invited to the Heisman ceremony?  
especially if Haskins wants to come back and play another season - the loss could be worth 10's of millions
selling jerseys and autographs isn't going to cover it

I think the high round draft picks are worth at least 5-10K per month in college. And that the world is dying to give it to them. (Again: Not as a university/AD salary but in terms of out on the streets and in terms of local endorsements, etc.
With that perspective it seems almost silly to wonder why they'd play. They'll play to keep their gravy train rolling. Realistically, the payments only derail if they sit. And it's a sure thing. The injury risk is probabilistic.

If the issue was guys quitting earlier, then maybe.  What heavy train is stopping because they don't play in a bowl game, a couple months before entering the draft anyway.  I don't think they would miss out on any money by skipping the bowl game anyway, and even if they would, players have already proven they've been willing to miss out on far more than a couple thousand bucks to pursue millions.

If the issue was guys quitting earlier, then maybe.  What heavy train is stopping because they don't play in a bowl game, a couple months before entering the draft anyway.  I don't think they would miss out on any money by skipping the bowl game anyway, and even if they would, players have already proven they've been willing to miss out on far more than a couple thousand bucks to pursue millions.

Dollar handshakes in the streets and free meals around town are the easy examples. And it wouldn't be unusual if local endorsers had situations like these built into contracts and payment schedules.

ESPNU radio this morning was crushing Grier for his decision, saying a QB sitting out makes no sense, because (a) the system they play he never gets hit and (b) the types of questions GMs ask QBs, this will 100% hurt his draft stock.  Greg McElroy said the question he was most asked in the draft lead up was whether he loved football or what football had given him, and that that was a very common question of QBs, because (as we've discussed with Aaron Rodgers) arm talent only gets you so far at that position.  For a guy who already screwed over one team by getting busted for PEDs to then do this to the team that gave him a second chance, on top of being able to answer that question, they were in agreement that while they totally get Ed Oliver not going out there to play Army's cut blocking, that they thought Will Grier was making a terrible decision for his draft stock, no matter how you feel about players skipping bowls.

Ron Dayne said something similar to my thought, why the bowl game?  Even if you are going to do that, why not the last few games if you are just a .500ish team?