... particularly when they potentially involve team captains.
Crawford commented on…
• The talk that a couple of captains may not perform in the Peach Bowl: "I have to have an open mind on this, because I've got to check myself and not just think of being this college football fanatic, Michigan Wolverines football fanatic since the early 1960s. I've got to take that away and think about, oh, the players, the families, a lot of money involved, look what happened with Jake Butt…
"But the bottom line, and I'm going to give you an example. Felton Davis, at Michigan State, got hurt in a non-contact play against Michigan. You can get hurt in the Pajama Olympics, as they call it, just doing combines. You can do it at any time.
"But whenever there is an excuse to say, 'Hey, my resume's good. I'm good. Let's see where the draft takes me.' And I think a lot of people are getting in people's ears. I don't know if they're agents, I don't know if they're parents, I don't know if they're former players. I know some former players are not happy with the fact that Michigan players are not playing in the bowl game. I've talked to a few of those and they're not happy, and some of those went on to play in the NFL.
"It's a trend, though, I'm afraid. Think about this: what if next year — and I'm not even saying Michigan — a [player] is like, okay, we're shut out, we can't even win the conference championship, that means we're not going to go to the College Football Playoff. Who cares about the bowl game? I think I'm going to check out after week No. 7. I'm not going to play anymore, because I want to get ready for the draft.
"How can that not be a case where that possibly starts happening? Or it might even go as extreme as, after their sophomore year, they have a terrific year, Mel Kiper Jr.'s got them predicted really high, and it's, 'You know, I'm just going to sit this one out, the three years out of high school rule, and I'll just do that.'
"None of that, in my mind, is good for college football."
• Former U-M players (including ones who went on the NFL) saying there is no way they'd have missed their last Michigan game: "If you want to stir it up, go to a Christmas party and everyone is in the family room, having drinks, and you're trying to create a topic for discussion, just bring this topic up. I swear it's going to be polar opposites, you're going to get vibrant opinions.
"It's almost like politics. People are so polarized on this thing. But the bottom line for me on the captaincy, if Michigan does not have captains playing, you are quitting on your team, that you signed up to lead. You're quitting on them, as a leader. That's my opinion…
"When there's a captaincy involved, that is a huge honor and responsibility to that Michigan football team or whatever football team it is."
• If they'd be sitting if it were a playoff game: "That's where I went back to the thing of week seven, if you're not in the playoff hunt then, you just check out. How is that any different? How are games any more relevant then, if you're not going to win the conference championship and play in a bowl game?
"Players that are lower-echelon players, maybe third- or fourth- or fifth-round picks, you shouldn't be coming out anyway. You should be raising your stock if you can. The other element is, your last shot at sending a positive injection into your resume is to play pretty well in a bowl game against a high-caliber SEC team in the Florida Gators.
"If you go out there and deliver … you're not going to play in the Senior Bowl. You don't get a chance if you're a junior. So why not do that? These are the things that really surprise me, on decision making. Not only that, you're causing your team to be challenged from a personnel standpoint.
Here is the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/michigan-wolverines-football-and-basketball-podcast-tom-crawford
Crawford commented on…
• The talk that a couple of captains may not perform in the Peach Bowl: "I have to have an open mind on this, because I've got to check myself and not just think of being this college football fanatic, Michigan Wolverines football fanatic since the early 1960s. I've got to take that away and think about, oh, the players, the families, a lot of money involved, look what happened with Jake Butt…
"But the bottom line, and I'm going to give you an example. Felton Davis, at Michigan State, got hurt in a non-contact play against Michigan. You can get hurt in the Pajama Olympics, as they call it, just doing combines. You can do it at any time.
"But whenever there is an excuse to say, 'Hey, my resume's good. I'm good. Let's see where the draft takes me.' And I think a lot of people are getting in people's ears. I don't know if they're agents, I don't know if they're parents, I don't know if they're former players. I know some former players are not happy with the fact that Michigan players are not playing in the bowl game. I've talked to a few of those and they're not happy, and some of those went on to play in the NFL.
"It's a trend, though, I'm afraid. Think about this: what if next year — and I'm not even saying Michigan — a [player] is like, okay, we're shut out, we can't even win the conference championship, that means we're not going to go to the College Football Playoff. Who cares about the bowl game? I think I'm going to check out after week No. 7. I'm not going to play anymore, because I want to get ready for the draft.
"How can that not be a case where that possibly starts happening? Or it might even go as extreme as, after their sophomore year, they have a terrific year, Mel Kiper Jr.'s got them predicted really high, and it's, 'You know, I'm just going to sit this one out, the three years out of high school rule, and I'll just do that.'
"None of that, in my mind, is good for college football."
• Former U-M players (including ones who went on the NFL) saying there is no way they'd have missed their last Michigan game: "If you want to stir it up, go to a Christmas party and everyone is in the family room, having drinks, and you're trying to create a topic for discussion, just bring this topic up. I swear it's going to be polar opposites, you're going to get vibrant opinions.
"It's almost like politics. People are so polarized on this thing. But the bottom line for me on the captaincy, if Michigan does not have captains playing, you are quitting on your team, that you signed up to lead. You're quitting on them, as a leader. That's my opinion…
"When there's a captaincy involved, that is a huge honor and responsibility to that Michigan football team or whatever football team it is."
• If they'd be sitting if it were a playoff game: "That's where I went back to the thing of week seven, if you're not in the playoff hunt then, you just check out. How is that any different? How are games any more relevant then, if you're not going to win the conference championship and play in a bowl game?
"Players that are lower-echelon players, maybe third- or fourth- or fifth-round picks, you shouldn't be coming out anyway. You should be raising your stock if you can. The other element is, your last shot at sending a positive injection into your resume is to play pretty well in a bowl game against a high-caliber SEC team in the Florida Gators.
"If you go out there and deliver … you're not going to play in the Senior Bowl. You don't get a chance if you're a junior. So why not do that? These are the things that really surprise me, on decision making. Not only that, you're causing your team to be challenged from a personnel standpoint.
Here is the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/michigan-wolverines-football-and-basketball-podcast-tom-crawford
