It's actually somewhere in-between... a lot of players that will be on the roster next year, are not on the roster now.
Sam Hartman - Opting out of Sun Bowl
- Thread starter 1Redrum
- Start date
Both will be drafted higher than Sam and have more injury risk. Again I don’t love it but it makes more sense.
We don't have a good coach. I like Freeman - he has proven not to be a good coach.
“I know my sentiment is not popular. I’ll take some heat here for this post. That’s OK, have at it. It’s not personal w me.”
This isn’t heat or meant to be personal, and I certainly understand what you’re feeling. But my perspective on this is different and based more on what we’re seeing vs. what we’re used to.
Yet, what’s different has been coming for three decades. Ever since players started skipping their final year in order to get to the NFL as quickly and as healthily as possible, it’s been clear that the game would KEEP BENDING towards MONEY.
Now, that players can get a HEAD START making money via NIL while increasing their potential NFL CAPITAL via the PORTAL, the game’s MONETIZATION has jumped an ORDER OF MAGNITUDE. Players are not just free agents. They’re MERCENARIES.
In other words, it’s PURE FREE-MARKET CAPITALISM. And it will STAY that way unless someone attempts to “step in” and REGULATE it. Will that happen? Who knows? But in the meantime, the devil – ALL TOO HUMAN – will continue to TAKE THE HINDMOST.
As for developing players “who want to be here several years and will be invested in the program,” I see that as less likely a player’s ABSOLUTE GOAL than an ERODABLE sentiment that might not even survive his RECRUITMENT.
What do you say the day Minchey or Knight or Carr enters the portal? And the odds are QUITE HIGH that AT LEAST one of them WILL at some point. Today’s RECRUIT is LITERALLY tomorrow’s transfer. CFB is a BUSINESS and one that has put a premium on FLUIDITY.
To expect players to be governed by the same kind of sentiment as fans -- WHEN THERE’S SERIOUS MONEY TO BE MADE by remaining more FINANCIALLY PRAGMATIC – is, as I see it, missing the point.
The game has MOVED ON.
Those guys are likely gonna be picked way earlier than Sam. Sam may not get drafted.
Someone above posted- you’d think he want to be out there in a bowl game, playing his last game for ND, trying to win it.
Sam is gonna have to scrap and fight to make an NFL roster, playing this game should matter to him.
I don’t love the idea of sitting out to protect against injury. These guys play at an insanely violent sport, you can get hurt at any point in any game. I just can’t subscribe to picking and choosing spots, to play in, to avoid getting hurt.
I agree 100%, my point is they are only startin (and i can't believe it took so long) due to injury
You make some really good points.
I’m just in the corner of:
-ND did a lot for Hartman
-Hartman is not a sure thing NFL pick
-He’s not getting paid sooner if he sits
-I think the game is important to ND, and given what Hartman “got”, for lack of better word, he owes ND this game. Go out and help win it for a fan-base and program that did a ton for you.
Dude -- lay off the drugs man -- they are making you more whacky than normal
The game isn't all that important. Now the extra practices ? That's what the coaches relish the most.
Again, I see your point of view. Trouble is, he's NOT in that corner with you. Nor, would I imagine, are many of today's players -- who at least HOPE they have NFL futures.
If I'm Hartman or his agent, here's what I reply:
I led ND to 9 wins. My stats were comparable to Book's and Coan's. And I didn't get HURT. If ND finishes 10-3, that's pretty much what the CONSENSUS was. I did my part.
I MAY NOT be an NFL pick, but then again if I STAY HEALTHY, I might somehow latch on somewhere.
I'm not getting paid sooner, but I'm NOT RISKING getting hurt.
What can ND or its fanbase do for me if I get seriously injured? Nothing. There's no UPSIDE.
NONE of this is PERSONAL because ALL OF IT'S BUSINESS.
As for loyalty, if it's not embedded in the FOUR CORNERS OF A CONTRACT, I wouldn't look to see much of it at all in today's game, now that the REWARD part of the RISK-REWARD dynamic is SIGNFICANTLY HIGHER.
These guys are risking LIFE, LIMB and CTE. They're GAMBLING. If people want to GIVE THEM MONEY or help them MAKE IT, they're taking it.
Personally, I wouldn't hesitate for an instant. As someone who had to leave college football -- what's today called a MEDICAL RETIREMENT -- due to a severe NECK INJURY, I know how quickly IT CAN END.
My take? Hartman's gotta do what's best for HARTMAN.
Every bowl that isn't a playoff game is nothing more than an exhibition. Opting out makes perfect sense for the guys that choose to. Their teammates understand it. Their coaches understand it. They certainly don't owe anyone least of all the fans.
Well that is a bull shit comment
Because if it wasn't for the lowly fans, all that NIL money they are making would be gone. If it wasnt for the fans, all that NFL money would be gone. And if it wasnt for the fans, all that free education they are getting would be gone
A lot of good quality NFL pkayers understand that side of it
That was about as ignorant a comment as it gets
Depends on fit. Look at NFL QBs, especially the backups.
Examples: Aidan O'Connell from Purdue, Tommy DeVito from Syracuse/Illinois, Cooper Rush from Central Michigan, Sean Clifford from Penn State, Jaren Hall from BYU, Clayton Tune from Houston, and Tyler Heinecke from Old Dominion. Most of these have started for their teams in the NFL.
Hartman is better than most of these, but so much depends on fit and Coach's opinion/decision.
Who was Hartman going to impress? This is a lower-tier bowl without 4 of his starting linemen, 5 out of 10 of his receivers AND without his workhorse ball carrier?
Sam's not going to get a letter spelling this out for him. He's got to take a look at what this bowl game has turned into, which is an exhibition, then make up his mind about opportunity vs risk. Don't like it, but I can't blame him.
Sam's not going to get a letter spelling this out for him. He's got to take a look at what this bowl game has turned into, which is an exhibition, then make up his mind about opportunity vs risk. Don't like it, but I can't blame him.
Everyone knew this was going to be a polarizing topic. Hartman has the choice to play or not play….he’s choosing not to. Fine. I still think ND wins.
Hartman isn’t gonna be a 1st rd pick. He won’t be a 2nd. He won’t be a 3rd. He likely won’t be a 4th or 5th. Based on that, I believe he should compete at every opportunity, and finish his ND career.
Hartman underwhelmed at ND. Fans (myself included) thought he could be good enough to lead ND to 11 or maybe even 12 wins. He ended up being just above average (and everyone conveniently blamed the WRs), and led us to 9 wins. I think Buchner or Pyne woulda led us to 9 wins as well.
Sam- thanks for the 6 months on campus and the 9 wins vs largely mediocre teams. The hair and beard were/are awesome. Now sit out the bowl game and trick yourself into thinking that sitting out the game will somehow enhance or protect your emerging NFL career.
Hartman isn’t gonna be a 1st rd pick. He won’t be a 2nd. He won’t be a 3rd. He likely won’t be a 4th or 5th. Based on that, I believe he should compete at every opportunity, and finish his ND career.
Hartman underwhelmed at ND. Fans (myself included) thought he could be good enough to lead ND to 11 or maybe even 12 wins. He ended up being just above average (and everyone conveniently blamed the WRs), and led us to 9 wins. I think Buchner or Pyne woulda led us to 9 wins as well.
Sam- thanks for the 6 months on campus and the 9 wins vs largely mediocre teams. The hair and beard were/are awesome. Now sit out the bowl game and trick yourself into thinking that sitting out the game will somehow enhance or protect your emerging NFL career.
You are fired up on this subject and I like it! I think they all owe their teammates and ND to finish out the season.
I don't think he underwhelmed. I thought he was was pretty much as advertised. The receivers did blow ...due to injuries and lousy coaching. No wonder the wr's weren't be developed...they were getting high with the coach.
Excited to see the young guys play!
