Dec 25, 2016 3 min read

The week leading up to New Year’s Day – and the holiday itself – has become synonymous with college football bowl games.

But an uprising is occurring during this year’s marathon schedule of bowl games as two star running backs for college powerhouses announced they won’t play in their team’s bowl game.

Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey wrote last week on Twitter that he would not participate in the Sun Bowl this Friday. Fellow running back Leonard Fournette of Louisiana State made a similar announcement that he would sit out Saturday’s Citrus Bowl.

Both players have great chances of being taken in next year’s NFL draft, so an injury in one of these bowl games could seriously impact, or even end, their professional careers before they begin. That’s exactly what happened last year to Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith, who lost millions after suffering a catastrophic knee injury in his team’s bowl game, dropping him from a guaranteed first round pick to a second-rounder whose career remains very much in doubt.

Many college football experts and even fans are blaming McCaffrey and Fournette for supposedly selfish attitudes that, they say, show they aren’t committed to their teammates or colleges.

That couldn’t be further from the truth. All college football players have sacrificed plenty during college tenures by bringing in millions of dollars for their alma maters while getting a few college credits in exchange. Sure, they’ve parlayed that experience into an opportunity to play in the NFL and reap the very lucrative rewards of career professional football, but as we saw with Smith, it isn’t guaranteed.

In reality, what is a disgrace is a bowl system that has spiraled out of control over the past two decades.

In 1996, there were just 18 bowl games across the college football landscape. That number has more than doubled over the past two decades. There are now 41 bowl games spanning 17 days, and that doesn’t include the championship bowl game as part of the newly formed college football “playoff” series.

Does anyone really care about the Quick Lane Bowl this afternoon in Detroit, that features Maryland and Boston College, two teams that each finished a paltry 6-6? Why should a team finishing with a .500 record be rewarded with an extra game?

Even worse, Mississippi State, which finished 5-7 this year, is also going bowling today in the dubious St. Petersburg Bowl against Miami (Ohio), which could only muster a .500 record against substandard mid-major teams.

Making it to a bowl game used to mean something. Now it’s just another paycheck for the schools, television networks and bowl organizers, but not the players.

So don’t blame any player who sits out a meaningless bowl game that offer him no upside, but could possibly derail his career.

Instead blame the NCAA, television execs and university presidents who have turned college football and basketball into a multi-billion-dollar industry under the guise of “student-athletes” that are nothing more than cheap labor.

If colleges want these athletes to play in bowl games, then give them a reason to do so. Cut the number of bowl games in half so it’s a reward – not a burden – for winning teams that actually deserve to play in them.