Pitt's Kenny Pickett joins MSU's Kenneth Walker in forgoing Peach Bowl
Just six hours after Michigan State’s star tailback Kenneth Walker III announced his intentions to forgo the Peach Bowl and declare for the 2022 NFL Draft, Pittsburgh star quarterback Kenny Pickett made the same declaration.
This has been a growing trend across college football for the past several seasons. More and more, the star talent on college football teams are opting out of bowl games that are not part of the College Football Playoff.
“That's been happening for about seven, eight years now it seems like,” said Pitt head coach and one-time MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi. “So that's the nature of the game we've created, I think going from the old BCS to being a four-team playoff sometimes makes some of these bowl games insignificant.”
As a fan of college football, I was looking forward to seeing these two guys square off on the field, and the Peach Bowl would certainly have been more exciting if they had chosen to play. However, I understand the decision by both guys, and it’s hard to argue against their decision.
Pickett is going to be a first round draft selection this April. Walker is also likely to be picked in the first or second rounds. These two players are just months away from adding millions to their bank accounts. The regular season is over – Pickett led his school to an ACC Championship, Walker was the driving force of a 10-2 regular season record and a second consecutive win over rival Michigan.
These players don’t owe it to their universities to play in these bowl games, and their decisions should be universally supported.
“It's really the individual decisions for the players typically, as they're guys that may be dealing with some type of injuries or that may be deciding whether they're going to come back for another year or leave,” Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker said. “If they're going to leave, then they have to make a decision, well, does it help me to play in this game or not, and what is the risk, what is the reward.”
Players who chose to play for their universities one more time in these bowl games are lauded and beloved by their fanbases – and rightfully so – but there is an inherent risk involved in making that decision.
One of the most memorable of these decisions was made by former Michigan tight end Jack Butt, who elected to play in the 2016 Orange Bowl for the Wolverines. Butt was the Mackey Award winner – the nation’s best tight end – and would have likely been a first- or second-rounder.
However, Butt tore his ACL for the second time in his career during that Orange Bowl, and in the following NFL Draft, he fell to the fifth round. It’s approximated that the injury in the bowl game cost Butt around $2.8 million in earnings.
That’s why Tucker supports Walker, Pickett or any other player who chooses to sit out these bowl games that aren’t tied to something larger – the College Football Playoff.
“They're business decisions, and whatever decisions our players make, I will support them 100 percent.” Tucker said.
For fans of the sport – myself included – it’s disappointing when these star players opt out of these games. We want to see them play. We want the best players on the field. But they don’t owe that to us.
I’m not going to sit here and tell fans how to root for their teams and/or programs. But my approach has always been this: Be fans of the individuals – the players and the coaches – not just fans of the program.
