ALTOONA, Pa. -- I am 100 percent OK with college football players opting out of bowl games. It's their lives, their bodies and their futures, so good luck and Godspeed to all of them.
At the same time, if we've reached the point where we can't be upset that players are opting out, then something else also must be taken into consideration: We can't be upset if fans no longer give a damn about bowl games.
I honestly don't. And that bums me the hell out.
Bowl games have always been an awesome part of college football. But they have rapidly risen to the level of being damn near meaningless. Not quite NFL Pro Bowl meaningless, but it may not be too long until that happens.
Six Penn State players have opted out of Saturday's Outback Bowl against Arkansas, including the team's two best players (Dotson and Brisker) and five defensive starters. The opt outs:
* WR Jahan Dotson
* S Jaquan Brisker
* DE Arnold Ebiketie
* DT Derrick Tangelo
* LB Brandon Smith
* LB Ellis Brooks
No one should begrudge any of those dudes for their decisions. And if you do begrudge them, then your old-school way of thinking needs to change. This is just how it is nowadays, and it's only going to get worse, with more and more and more players opting out every bowl season.
No, they're not quitting on their team. That's stupid.
They' making a business decision about their careers, which I wrote about last week.
But if Penn State's best players don't care to play in the Outback Bowl, then why should you, the fans, care about the game?
"Because the younger players will get an opportunity," you might say.
Sure, that's a reasonable answer. But c'mon, is that what sports fans should be relegated to -- watching young players who wouldn't be playing otherwise be getting a lot of playing time?
What is this, some kind of exhibition game?
Yes.
Exactly.
That's what most of these bowl games have become. Exhibitions.
They used to be about one of two things:
1. Finishing your season strong with a signature win, or
2. Serving as a springboard into the offseason and building momentum for next year
In Penn State's case, with this particular bowl game, the outcome against the Razorbacks doesn't matter. It really doesn't.
If the Nittany Lions win, is anyone going to be thinking, "That was a really good win and a great way to end the season!"
No. Penn State is 7-5 and unranked, after reaching as high as No. 4 in the country. Winning this game isn't going to take the stink off this season.
If Penn State loses, big deal. Arkansas surely wants this game more anyway, because it would be a nice feather-in-the-cap win for the Hogs, and a loss by Penn State would just be chalked up to "Well, the Lions played without most of their best players anyway."
Some people in the comments section here lately have accused me of being too negative. I am sorry to come across that way, truly, but excuse me for not falling over myself to try and find ways to make this turd of a season smell any better.
I believe this is about the most meaningless bowl game Penn State has ever played in, or at least in the discussion. The TicketCity Bowl in 2012 (a 30-14 loss to Houston) came less than two months after the Sandusky scandal blew up, and everyone couldn't wait to get that season over with.
No matter what happens in the Outback Bowl, somewhere between 6-10 Penn State players are going to transfer out. And the Lions will get 6-10 transfers in.
Because of all the opt outs, the team that takes the field in Tampa will not be the real 2021 Penn State team. And in a few weeks, the team will be drastically different because of all the personnel movement.
So again, trying to put any stock into the outcome of this bowl game is pointless.
Now, I will offer up that bowl season is important. It's big for all the extra practices, which can benefit the younger players, and bowl trips do still serve as great rewards when the team gets to visit an awesome place such as the Outback Bowl. I've been there twice while covering Penn State, and it's a great bowl event.
The actual bowl game itself, though, won't matter all that much.
The players who opted out made it clear it doesn't matter to them.
So as fans, you have every right for it to not matter much to you.