Hyatt opts out of Orange bowl - headed to NFL

[vols 30]

It amazes how many "vol fans" don't care about the bowl games. Seems like it's 50/50 on caring. "Meaningless" and "exhibition" are popular words. Player leaving -" Go get your money"

Go back 20 years or so and I believe this attitude towards bowls didn't exist. 95% of Vol fans cared about the outcome of a bowl games. Player leaving - " there's no i in team"

 

[bigdaddy]

Without reading 300+ posts I ask this. Once we lost our second game why not sit out from then on if it’s all about not getting hurt for the pros? Why did JH play against vandy but not the bowl game? To me the logic doesn’t add up. I don’t care that he is sitting out but of you are going pro and worried about injury why play this season after USC loss.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

It amazes how many "vol fans" don't care about the bowl games. Seems like it's 50/50 on caring. "Meaningless" and "exhibition" are popular words. Player leaving -" Go get your money"

Go back 20 years or so and I believe this attitude towards bowls didn't exist. 95% of Vol fans cared about the outcome of a bowl games. Player leaving - " there's no i in team"

Follow the money.

It's a business, not the "rah, rah for dear old school" you're longing for. The TV contracts, the facilities, the highly paid coaches, etc...... this isn't Johnny's football team anymore.

Elite guys come to schools like TN to showcase for the next level, not because they want to play college football but because that's the next step to hopefully get them to the league.

Most won't get there, but those that shine like Hyatt has this season need to jump at that opportunity because it's one most never get and it can disappear as fast as it appears.

 

[508mikey]

It amazes how many "vol fans" don't care about the bowl games. Seems like it's 50/50 on caring. "Meaningless" and "exhibition" are popular words. Player leaving -" Go get your money"

Go back 20 years or so and I believe this attitude towards bowls didn't exist. 95% of Vol fans cared about the outcome of a bowl games. Player leaving - " there's no i in team"

Same posters will be in the game thread complaining if the Vols are losing the meaningless bowl game

 

[VolsSportsFan]

It amazes how many "vol fans" don't care about the bowl games. Seems like it's 50/50 on caring. "Meaningless" and "exhibition" are popular words. Player leaving -" Go get your money"

Go back 20 years or so and I believe this attitude towards bowls didn't exist. 95% of Vol fans cared about the outcome of a bowl games. Player leaving - " there's no i in team"

I distinctly remember a pretty big drop in excitement and "caring" in years we had to settle for the Citrus Bowls, in the 1996 and 2001 seasons, and the 2002 and 2003 seasons I saw drop off when we went to 2 Peach Bowls in a row.

 

[spacificislander]

Your overall point was making them employees would stop the opt-outs. The two opt-outs we have so far are Hyatt and Tillman, both are leaving to accept multi-million dollar contracts. So what exactly would this "penalty" be that would stop that? And all employment in TN is at-will. Theoretically the university could attempt to put a non-compete in place, but it would be completely unenforceable and ruin recruiting to even try to do so.

But hey, great point about contract employees like Coaches not being able to opt-out. Solid point and smart argument. Alex Golesh says to say hello, BTW.

Exactly, how would this stop an opt out? Especially when they are done after the season. you gonna sue your players for breach of contract? Good luck recruiting.

 

[WilcoVolsFan]

Without reading 300+ posts I ask this. Once we lost our second game why not sit out from then on if it’s all about not getting hurt for the pros? Why did JH play against vandy but not the bowl game? To me the logic doesn’t add up. I don’t care that he is sitting out but of you are going pro and worried about injury why play this season after USC loss.

If you can't see the difference between leaving your team during the regular season while still playing conference games and enrolled in the University on scholarship Vs. choosing not to play in a post-season Bowl Game that occurs after the school year has ended and you've already made the decision to leave school to pursue a professional career, then I doubt anyone will ever be able to explain it to you in a way that you can understand.

 

[BigALWiLson]

No one had answered my question about Tillman ? Why are you all not going crazy over him not playing ? Is it because he gets a pass cause he was injured already ? Otherwise wtf is the difference

 

[VolsSportsFan]

No one had answered my question about Tillman ? Why are you all not going crazy over him not playing ? Is it because he gets a pass cause he was injured already ? Otherwise wtf is the difference

Not sure and this is odd because the OSU player sitting out is in pretty much the same situation, but said OSU player is being used as "proof" that players are opting out of the playoffs.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

Go cry some more

I plan to

 

[NCFisher]

While getting a free education.

And professional training.
But it's not free; it's a trade for their ability to play football, which makes a school like UT well north of $100M annually. In any other environment, that's called a job. A scholarship is a cheap salary from UT's standpoint

Hyatt and Tillman have a better opportunity.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

Same posters will be in the game thread complaining if the Vols are losing the meaningless bowl game

This x1000000000000

 

[NCFisher]

No,, .. but the money that the kids are getting now should at least allow for them to play in the games, you know, which generate the money that the kids are now getting.

They don't earn any money from the games, TV contracts, merch sales, etc.; the NIL deals - which some players get and some don't - are transactions with private entities.

College athletics is a profession for everyone involved. The only thing that has changed is that players now have mobility and choices previously denied them by schools, coaches, and the NCAA. Schools, coaches, and NCAA who themselves had those choices.

You just saw your QB's season ended in a freak accident without being touched. Your WR team-mate injury status will likely cost him money. There is no title of any type on the line. WRs and CBs, in that order, are by far most injury-prone positions. But let's risk what might be generations of life-changing money & financial security for that? Viewed that way, what sense does it make?

 

[NCFisher]

It amazes how many "vol fans" don't care about the bowl games. Seems like it's 50/50 on caring. "Meaningless" and "exhibition" are popular words. Player leaving -" Go get your money"

Go back 20 years or so and I believe this attitude towards bowls didn't exist. 95% of Vol fans cared about the outcome of a bowl games. Player leaving - " there's no i in team"

Everyone cares about the bowl game and would like to see a win, but not to the exclusion of ignoring football is a business in which players have not only been excluded from the profits, but forbidden to earn income related to the very thing that makes them profitable assets to the school and networks.

There's no title on the line; in practicality, it is meaningless. From the business & personal standpoint of life-changing financial security or risking your career to a bowl game injury, the bowl game is meaningless. That's what is being said.

 

[NCFisher]

Without reading 300+ posts I ask this. Once we lost our second game why not sit out from then on if it’s all about not getting hurt for the pros? Why did JH play against vandy but not the bowl game? To me the logic doesn’t add up. I don’t care that he is sitting out but of you are going pro and worried about injury why play this season after USC loss.

It's not a binary choice. Regular season games determine where you finish in conference. Unlike post-bowl polls, it's not a matter of opinion. Bowls are elective, regular season is not and those games have to be played. If TN were in the CFP, I don't think you could keep Tillman or Hyatt off the field with firehoses.

 

[Lawrence Wright]

INTERNET FIGHT!!!

 

[WilcoVolsFan]

We should return to the pre-portal, pre-NIL days of indentured servitude when schools, networks, and NCAA operated like a cartel and made kingpin $$.

While a lot of teenage players keeping an academic and athletic schedule, many with low income backgrounds, would have appreciated nicer clothes and some walking around money.

AMEN!!!

Thank God for the “Real VFLs” around here reminding us of that and treating these young men as the football-playing lumps of meat they are!

Dance, catch-monkey, dance. Dance for my pleasure! And if you get injured while entertaining strangers like me and your very small window of athletic earning potential closes, well too F'n bad.

 

[SoFloVFL]

I'd like to see NIL deals structured with incentives built in for playing in certain bowl/playoff games. Similar to how coaches contracts are done. That would benefit the universities, in having the players more likely to play....and the players would benefit from playing in the game as well. They would have to leave a little money on the table if they opt out.

 

[WilcoVolsFan]

Aside from the enduring wisdom of Mike Tyson, what would we discuss? Breakfast avocados? Man-buns and essential oils? The Questionable Practice of Meeting Anonymous True Fans in a Polite CCW Society?

Way to escalate to DEFCON 3, Champ.

No, no, you should meet up with the random angry dude from the internet who quotes from (checks notes), Mike Tyson. Maybe in an alley or dimly lit store parking lot well after closing hours.

What could go wrong??

 

[bigdaddy]

If you can't see the difference between leaving your team during the regular season while still playing conference games and enrolled in the University on scholarship Vs. choosing not to play in a post-season Bowl Game that occurs after the school year has ended and you've already made the decision to leave school to pursue a professional career, then I doubt anyone will ever be able to explain it to you in a way that you can understand.

If the end goal is to stay healthy and train for the nfl the any game after the USC loss is a risk and not needed. Doesn’t matter regular season or not. At that point when we aren’t making the playoffs if you are wanting to save yourself for the combine then stop playing. Stop taking hits. Stop doing reps. Start rehabbing and training for the nfl.

 

[NCFisher]

No, no, you should meet up with the random angry dude from the internet who quotes from (checks notes), Mike Tyson. Maybe in an alley or dimly lit store parking lot well after closing hours.

What could go wrong??

Well....okay...I guess.
I'll be the sickly, pale milksop in the 'Journey 1982' concert tee, clutching a 6-pack of hard cider and a peace offering of homemade patchouli oil.

It could turn out a positive experience....

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I'd like to see NIL deals structured with incentives built in for playing in certain bowl/playoff games. Similar to how coaches contracts are done. That would benefit the universities, in having the players more likely to play....and the players would benefit from playing in the game as well. They would have to leave a little money on the table if they opt out.

Once again, NIL deals cannot be "pay to play" in a game or even for a specific school. That's because a paying someone to play makes them professional athletes and the NCAA remains an amateur league.

It's odd that this keeps coming up. "Let's pay them to play in the bowl game, that will work!" It can't unless you want the NCAA to disappear.

 

[Lawrence Wright]

I'd like to see NIL deals structured with incentives built in for playing in certain bowl/playoff games. Similar to how coaches contracts are done. That would benefit the universities, in having the players more likely to play....and the players would benefit from playing in the game as well. They would have to leave a little money on the table if they opt out.

So punish elite kids if they skip bowl games for the NFL combine/draft…because Jimmy Joe from Ooltewah really wants Jalin Hyatt to help UT beat Clemson.

There’s no comparison between a guaranteed NFL signing bonus and whatever additional NIL financial consideration a college student gets for playing in a bowl game.

 

[FLSTF-VOL]

So punish elite kids if they skip bowl games for the NFL combine/draft…because Jimmy Joe from Ooltewah really wants Jalin Hyatt to help UT beat Clemson.

There’s no comparison between a guaranteed NFL signing bonus and whatever additional NIL financial consideration a college student gets for playing in a bowl game.

Then just skip the whole college route. The NFL should just build farm teams like baseball does and let the kids develop that way. Why waste time with college and all that goes with it. I mean really what's the point? According to many here, we fans are simply an annoyance and have zero bearing on anything. And that makes me wonder why after each and every game CJH thanks the fans for their support etc and so on. I mean if in the grand scheme of things fans are irrelevant why waste the time and money?

 

[Delmar]

It amazes how many "vol fans" don't care about the bowl games. Seems like it's 50/50 on caring. "Meaningless" and "exhibition" are popular words. Player leaving -" Go get your money"

Go back 20 years or so and I believe this attitude towards bowls didn't exist. 95% of Vol fans cared about the outcome of a bowl games. Player leaving - " there's no i in team"

It’s a far different world now in a lot of areas versus what it was 20 years ago. A lot more of “I want mine and I want it now.” People far more selfish and less willing to compromise. I’ve come to accept that’s just the way it is.

As far a college sports go, I know that most players now don’t sign because of school loyalty. They go where there’s the best opportunity for improvement to try to go pro. If successful, they are going to protect their interests before anyone or anything else. That’s why it’s 50/50 on “caring” about a bowl game. Excluding the playoffs, a bowl is an exhibition and a fun trip for the players and fans that go. But it really doesn’t do any good to get all that concerned about the result especially if both teams are depleted. I’ll watch with interest but I ain’t going to get bent out of shape like I used to. And I ain’t getting bent if players decide to opt out or stay. It’s their choice not mine. Keep in mind that I’ve got over 50 years invested in watching the Vols. But I’ve come to realize this is just a business on every front. The business doesn’t care about my opinion so I don’t feel the need to be that heavily invested anymore.