December 2nd, 2018 at 10:28 PM ^
Uh, actually I do, very well. If you think his career has been anything other than an incredible disappointment then you don’t watch football.
December 2nd, 2018 at 9:08 PM ^
Whatever...
Don't remember one big play he's made to be honest.
Bowl games are not meaningless. The season record will include that game.
8 team playoff is needed. That would be the best by far Imo.
December 2nd, 2018 at 9:09 PM ^
Bush, Long, Hill, Chase and any other player with any sort of draft grade or hopes should sit this game out as well. It'll help prepare next years crop of players and why put any sort of risk in hurting your future career to play in the damn peach bowl.
December 2nd, 2018 at 9:13 PM ^
A lot of those guys need a good game for the draft status. Gary does too after the year he’s had. I know people don’t seem to like being rational about this but it’s not like he did much in his Soph or Fr. years to justify a top 5 or 10 spot in the draft. But his combine numbers will be off the charts and obviously he’s more concerned about living up to those expectations than providing more film. It’s a little misguided IMO but totally respect the choice. Not everyone is in that position though, especially the guys above.
December 2nd, 2018 at 9:20 PM ^
Dah..Michigan Man
December 2nd, 2018 at 9:27 PM ^
Good for him, pointless game.
December 2nd, 2018 at 9:55 PM ^
not thread worthy. Kid has been a great Wolverine. How choice. Respect it
December 2nd, 2018 at 10:04 PM ^
Way to really go out with a thud, Rashan.
After such a disappointing and injured-filled year (and career) and after last week's debacle, you would think he might want to finish strong and give a good performance for scouts. Sadly, not the case.
Gary will probably be a quality NFL player at the end of the day, but I know some team is going to overdraft him.
December 2nd, 2018 at 10:50 PM ^
Good decision. I'm glad our younger guys will be able to get some reps.
December 2nd, 2018 at 10:50 PM ^
Many have no problem with Gary bailing on the team, and I can see that point of view, but I’m wondering if they would feel the same way if all potential NFL draftees left their teams each year as soon as it became clear that the team wouldn’t be playing for a title? Would it be ok for highly regarded players who play for bad teams to skip the entire season?
December 3rd, 2018 at 2:36 PM ^
They are volunteering at great personal risk for a one percent chance at a 4 year career so that everyone else but the players can grow wealthy in a system in which they are required to be exploited this way in order to have a chance to make a living at the sport.
So of course that would be OK, you dare to say they have an obligation to make the coaches, admins, schools, networks, conferences and advertisers rich for as long as the exploiters feel like it?
Imagine the classwork and homework of all regular students was somehow being monitized to the same degree so the professors, schools and advertisers grew filthy rich off it and the students didn't own the rights to their work and made nothing from it, AND the ex Rutger basketball coach was beating them with objects, throwing things at them and humiliating them every day while they worked to boot? Would there be any students that didn't sue? Would you have gone along with it?
December 2nd, 2018 at 11:49 PM ^
Good for him. My favorite comments so far are "he needs to play to increase draft stock". If you think one game is going to take someone up into the top 10 of the NFL draft i gotta think thats crazy. One game isnt going to make up or break a season but a broken bone or torn anything will 100% drop you. The risk reward is way off on playing. Ask Butt.
December 3rd, 2018 at 9:00 AM ^
I respect his decision. He's projected as a first rounder and Michigan is playing in a glorified exhibition game that doesn't mean anything. Besides, this continues to give guys like Paye and Uche extremely valuable snaps. There will be no shortage of experience on the DL next Fall.
Unless you're playing in the CFP, I will never fault a kid (who's a projected high draft pick) for trying to stay away from injuring himself. How many millions of dollars did Jake Butt miss out on when he tore his ACL in the Orange Bowl?
December 3rd, 2018 at 9:22 AM ^
wonder if Bo would have stood for these decisions. the team the team the (new) team
December 3rd, 2018 at 2:43 PM ^
And what is it Bo could've done about it? I know it's a form of slavery but not full on. Trump hasn't made us THAT "great" "again" YET, and he wasn't imitating a Prez yet then.
December 3rd, 2018 at 10:18 AM ^
The kid had to make a hard decision with serious implications for him and his family. In that sense, our view as fans is of very low importance -- few (or none) of us have been in the position he finds himself in. So I think any personal animus directed at Gary is wrong.
That said, there's obvious tension between this type of thing and "The Team, The Team, The Team." Something has clearly changed in college football, and it has detracted from the team-first mentality that made this such a great sport. I think there are several parts to this, including the CFP system that undercut the importance of traditional bowls (I am old enough to remember that the Rose Bowl was incredibly important to everyone), the proliferation of bowl games such that every non-terrible team plays in one, the increased importance of transfers (i.e., the "Team" is a more fluid concept than it once was), the bizarro world of recruiting, and the fact that coaches themselves are sometimes disloyal (to be clear, I'm not referring to anyone on our current coaching staff). Beyond all those things, which all have to do with money, the potential for serious injury seems much higher than once was the case, although I don't have numbers to back that up. We should look critically at the way college football is run -- not at the decisions made by players like Gary -- if we want this to change.
Finally, take note of the perverse incentives here. We presume that Gary would have played had Michigan made the playoffs. In other words, while playoffs increase the injury potential (possibly two post-season games instead of one), they increase the perceived obligation to play even more. This means that a player in Gary's situation now has reason to hope on some level that his team does not make the playoffs. After all, Gary's NFL payday is now assured. If we were in the playoffs and he were participating, that wouldn't be the case. Because of this issue, it's not hard to imagine a player in Gary's position giving something less than his best effort in late-season games. (IMPORTANT: I'm in no way suggesting this was true of Gary. I'm simply pointing out a bad incentive that exists in the current system.)
December 3rd, 2018 at 10:41 AM ^
Who are the "suits" who are making "gazillions of dollars" off the backs of NCAA revenue-sport athletes?
Explain that.
I can think of a very small cohort of older men who are indeed making millions in NCAA basketball and football. That cohort is the men who are elite-level coaches. So here is my question to MGoBlog; is Jim Harbaugh, at $6m++ per year profiting off the backs of collegiate athletes? Start any response with an answer to that. Should we have an NCAA bylaw capping coaching salaries?
Next; I don't know of anyone else making "gazillions" off of NCAA athletes. Television executives? Hmm. I'll tell you what; I would be FREAKING THRILLED to get television out of collegiate football. We could schedule games at 1:30, and they would be over within three hours. My tickets would be worth a hell of a lot more at their face value.
But Warde Manuel will say that we need television revenue to operate the Athletic Department. And he's right; at least insofar as how the Athletic Department operates. Because you wanna know where "gazillions of dollars" go, from the revenue produced by the football team? It goes, under Title IX mandates, to womens softball and womens field hockey and maybe even swimming and gymnastics. Et cetera, et cetera.
As for Rashan Gary; it was just a few weeks ago that the MGoCommentariat was saying what a great Michigan Man he was. Whatever. He was an interesting player to watch, and I enjoyed watching him play. I am not likely to give him much more thought going forward. I don't watch NFL games; I pay no attention to the NFL beyond some limited interest in watching how a few Big Ten graduates do.
It's a free country. If people want to pay attention to the NFL and support it financially, they can do it. I just don't see it. A bunch of mercenaries, playing for billion-dollar franchises to which I have absolutely no connection. I hate the NFL and Rashan Gary's story makes me hate it all the more.
December 3rd, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^
We were supposed to be getting a player tantamount to Jadeveon Clowney and Myles Garrett in Rashan Gary. It never happened. Really, never even close. But people will say, "But Rashan Gary was doubled all the time, and even tripled!" So were Jadeveon Clowney and Myles Garrett.
One has to admit the hard truth, Rashan Gary didn't work out as billed. He was a good player. But let's also be honest about this: the defense played better without him.
December 3rd, 2018 at 11:26 AM ^
He won't be missed.
December 3rd, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^
I hope every single player with reasonable draft potential sits out every non-playoff bowl going forward until we get a larger playoff field.
December 3rd, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
I don't fault him for his decision and wish him nothing but the best.
It's unfortunate that he never played to his potential while at Michigan.
December 3rd, 2018 at 1:46 PM ^
Bosa had more sacks in less than 3 full games than Gary did for the season. Hope Rashan luck and move on without pretending he was a great player.
December 3rd, 2018 at 1:48 PM ^
I’ll remember him fondly but just like with Jabril, not as fondly as I thought when he came here.
December 3rd, 2018 at 4:52 PM ^
As much as I would like to see him play in the bowl ( and heck, next season too), I think this is the best decision, especially if his shoulder's not 100%. I used to be all "they should play, they shouldn't quit on their teammates", etc. but it's one game vs their future. It would be different if it were a playoff game, but again, if that shoulder's not yet right, it might not be better for the team to have him out their either.