re: The new “opt out” bowls

W

quote:

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Teams have been playing for the Championship since 1998. The opt out play started in 2016. If the real reason for opt outs was that players didn’t want to play in a Bowl game that didn’t have Championship ramifications, then, we would have seen the Opt outs well before 2016.

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Nope. The “playoff” is a new thing. Before the playoff, there was no playoff, so Players didn’t care about the playoffs. That word is very meaningful. It has changed the whole game. It’s what football players have always aspired to, from youth to the NFL.

If what you say is true and agents are acting differently, though your 1985 experience wouldn’t provide you with such knowledge, we can trace it back to the importance of the word “playoff”. It matters. Players want to be in playoffs. Agents are now playing on that, and it only works if players are NOT in the playoff. You know this, right? Agents aren’t NOT going after playoff players. The difference is Playoff players aren’t giving up the championship opportunity. Rings matter, more so in a playoff.