Higdon, who sat out bowl to prep for draft, goes undrafted
This grated on me at the time, but I thought, “I guess he has to do what’s best for him.” But now to see him go undrafted, this bothers me even more. He is now an UDFA signee of the Texans.
As I see it, he had another chance at the bowl game to lead his team and improve his draft stock. Instead, he abandoned them. And for what?
I don’t know how anyone can be behind his decision any longer. I don’t find the “Well, if he got hurt than he might never have even been an UDFA signing” reason very persuasive.
While perhaps the bowl game might not have gone well anyway, I feel that part of the reason they lost was because the overall team effort was low due to poor morale. Morale and leadership is just the kind of thing a captain is supposed to provide. He could have provided that. NFL scouts would appreciate that. And a great performance on the field would certainly have helped his draft stock.
But when your captain jumps ship, a poor performance is to be expected. I wonder how many NFL teams thought worse of him for on personal level for being a captain who left his team, than they were impressed by any additional preparation he had for the Senior Bowl and NFL combine.
While I hope some players would learn a lesson from this, I think it will only get worse.
In other disappointing news, Zach Gentry, who had a poor bowl performance, but still left early, goes in the 5th round to the Steelers. Good for him I guess, but I wonder if he couldn’t have been a 1st or 2nd round pick in a year or two in this new offense. This one is more about players needing compensation in college, so they don’t have to jump earlier than necessary.
I rarely post here but read often, so I guess this just shows my frustration with these choices.
April 28th, 2019 at 10:25 PM ^
Wish we could move on from this and remember that at least David Long, Chase Winovich, and Zach Gentry all played in the bowl game despite ultimately declaring for the draft.
I’ve come to the acceptance that college athletics is becoming more and more of a business. I believe it’s only a matter of time until college athletes are allowed to be paid, but for the time being, these players need to make the best career choices for them and their families.
Even if the mgocommunity disagrees on players’ decisions to leave prematurely for the draft or sit out the postseason (see: Jordan Poole), I think we need to support them in their endeavors and wish them luck. Because not only is it a major financial decision, it’s also players’ life long dreams to play in their respective professional leagues. And the players already devote all of their time and energy to their sport. Why not move on when you believe you have the best chance to play professionally (and know that going back to school to obtain a degree is always an option down the road)? And why not take every step to improve your chances of playing professionally?
April 28th, 2019 at 10:32 PM ^
This is a garbage take and you should delete your account in shame
April 28th, 2019 at 10:48 PM ^
We are all entitled to our opinions. My opinion is it is not a garbage take. I love the people on this site who seem to take personal offense at any criticism of a player. Delete their account? Calm down.
Take it easy Francis
April 28th, 2019 at 10:43 PM ^
It’s well-documented how hard Karan worked for his team. That work made all of our Saturdays a little bit brighter. He gave us that. He shouldn’t lose the respect and admiration that should accompany his 4 years of dedication simply because he made a business decision to prioritize his family over a meaningless game that even his playing teammates didn’t care much about. Yes, it’s fine to “like” Winovich more than Karan. But Karan gave a hell of a lot to this program. Instead of posts questioning his loyalty, we should be posting threads wishing him good luck. For his sake and his family’s sake, we all should want him to succeed. He’s one of us. This fan base needs to do a better job supporting its players.
This is a great post, and I like your perspective here. I think the one thing I disagree with is, I don't see anyone on here not wanting Karan to be successful, not one. We may disagree on if him sitting for the bowl game was right or wrong but everyone wants him to be successful in the NFL and beyond.
Man, its actually sad to read some of these comments. The irony is they're suggesting HE'S the selfish one.
April 28th, 2019 at 10:52 PM ^
Please bring back voting on OP threads.
April 28th, 2019 at 11:06 PM ^
The bowl game is included in the W/L record last year. Therefore not meaningless...
Argument with JH, & a Captain sitting is not a good look imo. I'm sure NFL teams asked JH about him before the draft ...
Was Bush's last time in a M uniform - having 2 guys carry him off the Osu field?
April 29th, 2019 at 12:24 PM ^
I'd like for all the people who say bowl games are meaningless to also not bring up Harbaugh's W-L record in them. Show some damn consistency in your arguments.
April 28th, 2019 at 11:07 PM ^
I don’t think the Bowl game results are any different if Higdon plays, so to me it doesn’t matter. Also, I have no idea what his financial situation is, but I think once he leaves the team he can start taking money for autographs or an agent. He may have needed money for the holidays or something, who knows. I’m not going to negatively judge someone for doing what they think is best for them.
April 28th, 2019 at 11:59 PM ^
Higdon's choice has nothing to do with why he got undrafted. At this point you're absolutely just attributing what you were upset about to why he wasn't successful in my opinion.
NFL teams couldn't care less
April 29th, 2019 at 12:18 AM ^
He made a business decision.
He quit on his teammates.
Both of these statements can be true
It's not fair to characterize him as a quitter. First of all, he put his body through tremendous stress and sacrifice for our benefit. Second of all, players prioritize family obligations over football not infrequently and we don't call them quitters. For example, a player may miss a football game to attend a family funeral. We wouldn't say that such a player quit on his teammates. My point is not that skipping a game to attend a funeral is the same as skipping a game because you believe that doing so could cost you money. My point is that it's reasonable to prioritize family over football in some circumstances. This is one of those circumstances. Karan is a football player with a daughter and Karan by all accounts in good faith believed that he could risk his family's financial future by playing in the bowl game. I don't see why that was an unreasonable decision, which should cause this board to characterize him as a quitter.
April 29th, 2019 at 12:31 PM ^
The dude - quite literally - quit. We can definitely classify him as a quitter. That doesn't make him some loser who deserves to be disrespected. That doesn't mean he was not a vital leader on the team this year. That doesn't mean quitting is a bad decision to make...shoot sometimes quitting is the best decision we can make in a given situation.
But he literally quit his team rather than play in the final game of the season. He didn't have to sit it out, and he choose to. That is a statement of fact.
What I wrote is that it is not fair to characterize him as a quitter. In my opinion, that is true. I would venture to bet most people are not calling Karan a quitter simply because of the fact that he left the team. They're calling him a quitter to demean him. Quitter has a negative connotation. You wouldn't call a guy a quitter who reasonably prioritized his family over a game. Not sure why someone would do so here, unless they meant to demean the guy. And, my point is that it's not right to demean the guy over his decision here.
April 29th, 2019 at 12:19 AM ^
Higdon was a great RB for Michigan and I hope he lights it up in the NFL.
The reason he wasn’t drafted had nothing to do with sitting out. He’s just not what NFL scouts want I’m terms of a RB (and let’s leave it at that).
April 29th, 2019 at 12:28 AM ^
Kind of agree
April 29th, 2019 at 12:51 AM ^
lol Why is it disappointing news that Gentry got drafted?
So on one hand youre mocking Higdon for going undrafted but Gentry gets drafted and your also mocking him
Gentry getting drafted is great for Harbaugh. The fact he turned a HS QB into an NFL tight end is something he can and will use in recruiting
I think it’s pretty obvious: Leaving two years early to only go in the 5th round is disappointing.
With the potential he has and the eligibility he had left to improve his stock to perhaps a 1st or 2nd round pick (even just a 3rd is significant), it is disappointing that he left for what he got. He had a lot more to give Michigan and vice versa.
Particularly true when he saw how poorly he performed against others at the combine. It was a huge warning sign he ignored though he still could’ve came back.
Why leave so early just for that?
Like I said, if for him it was to get some money, then the issue is these guys need some compensation while they’re in school so they’re not so desperate they jump before they’re potential is maximized.
Because they don't care about the players. The end.
Roflmao... Waaaaaaaambulance arriving.
All I hear these days is how players are exploited and no one cares about them?! It's like listening to little kids cry because they don't get exactly what they want, when they want it.
The Universities certainly make a ton of money off the sport, the players know this going into the game. They also realize they have the opportunity to get top notch educations, and some of the best medical care in the world in the sports medicine facilities etc.
Plus they get to do what they've always wanted... PLAY FOOTBALL... unless they're just in it for the money, in which case I have even less sympathy. *Note, it's a brutal sport, it is what it is... complaining about it means you should be elsewhere.
"It's like listening to little kids cry because they don't get exactly what they want, when they want it." You're right, that's exactly what it's like listening to you all bitch about a player not making the choice you wanted. Nailed it.
Your arguments are lame. The school is not doing them a favor by providing education/med care for injuries sustained while representing said school. Literally every other student goes to school to make more money. Why are athletes different? Furthermore, you proved my point. You don't care if they're able to reach their professional goals beyond the team because you don't care about them as people. You care about what they can do for Michigan football/you.
Shame on the mods here. This thread should have been taken down a long time ago. Is there any news here? We all know Higden went undrafted.
This is a pathetic post by “Michigan Fans” who “only want the best” for the players they support - taking a shit on a guy, who made a business decision (and logical one at that), after playing his ass off for his team for years
Posts here are for facts or opinions. Everyone is entitled to expressing their opinion, including you. And him going undrafted may be news to some.
There are people here that agree with me and some who don’t, so it’s clearly worthy of discussion whether you like my opinion or not.
Karan is entitled to make a decision that suits him. I’m sure he doesn’t give a shit what I think. But I, as an alumnus and booster, am entitled to not like it and express my opinion about it.
You're definitely an entitled asshole.
April 29th, 2019 at 11:57 AM ^
Quite a hot take.
I sense the anger you feel knowing how wrong you were 4 months ago when you thought him skipping the bowl game was a good idea..
I honestly would feel better about it if they were willing to admit they dont care about what's best for the player.
So to sum up here: there’s no way to know if he played in the bowl game how it would have changed his draft stock for better (great performance, go-team guy) or worse (injury). You’re all just guessing.
and either you don’t like the changing nature of college football and this offends you or you feel like it’s changing and this is the new normal and shrug. So you’re all just opining.
There’s no right answer here so maybe we should all quit drinking and go to bed.
Hope for his sake Karan makes a roster and gets to play in the NFL.
Just a few years ago Tom Brady said the greatest football achievement in his life was not winning multiple super bowls, being super bowl MVP, NFL MVP, setting records, or going 16-0. It was being captain for the Michigan Wolverines. When the GOAT says that it really makes you appreciate what it means to be captain of the leaders and best.
Fast forward just a few years later to now and our captain is sitting out on his team rather than leading them into their last fight together. He should of never accepted the role of a captain if his personal goals were more important than the team, the team, the team.
Wow, so much to unpack here.
First of all, I think what you really meant to say was “As I see it, he had another chance at the bowl game to entertain me. Instead, he abandoned me. And for what?”
Not sure how you could find the career-ending injury thing not very persuasive. It’s a solid argument that he could have ended all hopes of a professional career in an exhibition game.
I don’t think NFL scouts give much of a crap about leadership or “jumping ship.” See: Bosa, Nick. He’s the racist that quit a month into the season and got picked second overall. The NFL doesn’t care about college football. The NFL doesn’t care about Michigan’s bowl game. They care about elite talent staying healthy.
“In other disappointing news, Zach Gentry, who had a poor bowl performance, but still left early, goes in the 5th round to the Steelers.” Kind of funny that you didn’t miss a beat between “bowl performance would have helped Higdon” and “Gentry had a terrible bowl game and still got drafted.” Also not entirely sure why Gentry being drafted is “disappointing news.”
“I rarely post here…” Probably for the best.
Goodness, some people make it seem like quitting a football team before a second-tier bowl game is actually a big deal in the real world.
April 29th, 2019 at 10:25 AM ^
If it doesn't matter to you, that's fine, but to assume that only your view represents "the real world" is naive, or arrogant.
But how does this affect your life... ?
My first instinct to this title was to shake my head. Sometimes i really hate this fan base.
Decisions to sit out bowl games don't bother me at all, and at the time, it seemed like a reasonable enough thing for him to do. In retrospect, we can sit here and second guess it perhaps, but I think what irked me a little was him trying to invent an excuse for not being drafted. Hopefully, he does find a niche for himself and has a go in the league, but if it is me and I am an undrafted free agent, I guess I just sign with a team and try to do well the thing which evaluators say I can't do all that well.
There’s a chance he can hang around in the league, bounce around and still make some money. I’d argue that if you’re a top 10 talent, hurting yourself pretty bad in the bowl game isn’t as damaging to your nfl career as a fringe 5-7th round or undrafted kind of player. If those guys sustain a bad injury they are 100% not getting a gig in the league. At least this way he’s getting his shot on his terms
Sad ending both to his choice and the memory of the last game he played. Still it was his choice to make.
Captain, Team, Bowl Game
All kids that play at that level have aspirations to get drafted. Higdon did a good job playing for Michigan and unfortunately for him the draft had lot's of RB's in it that were quite frankly better than him. Nevertheless, he did a great job for UM when he finally worked his way into the starting lineup. He also finished with a degree from the University of Michigan. He still has a chance to play signing as a UDFA but it will be super tough. Congrats to him all around.
Players don't owe you shit. You should continue to not post.
Like sands through the hourglass, these are the days of our lives.
April 29th, 2019 at 11:12 AM ^
May not have been the choice I’d make, but it was his choice and his life. He has a daughter to provide for, so I can understand why he didn’t want to risk an injury and sat out the Peach Bowl. Now that may have ended up hurting his stock, because he wasn’t a sure fire draft pick to begin with, and unless you are Saquon Barkley or Ezekiel Elliott, RBs are a dime a dozen in the league. But I can at least understand his reasoning.
He’s a grown man who made a personal choice. He didn’t owe you shit, or me, or any one of us. Now granted, he does have to live with the consequences of that decision, but I really think you just need to get over it and move on.
Let’s also be honest: Karan being in that game wouldn’t have made any real difference. NO ONE on this team wanted to be there. That season ended about midway through the third quarter of the OSU game.
April 29th, 2019 at 11:17 AM ^
My thoughts here... please contradict them if they are wrong...
The best thing about Bo...is he got the players thinking collectively, and made them a true unit, that the team was a very pure thing in their lives. A guy like Higdon would never have sat out, knowing that this would be the last game together on the team. The peer pressure would have been impossible to overcome, not wanting to let down the unit.
Maybe I am wrong, but I just don't see this type of thing on Bo's watch.. maybe its the sign of the times only.
April 29th, 2019 at 11:26 AM ^
I should preface this with I’m not close to being old enough to have experienced the Bo years but based off what you’ve described I don’t think the culture Bo created should be envied now. A football team should not be the “only pure thing” in someone’s life. It’s a different time and we know football is a dangerous sport. I have no issues with Higdon sitting out he’s doing what’s best for him and frankly this whole notion that the team is the only thing that’s important is wrong. It’s a bad mentality for people to have, there should always be a balance of sports and life.
April 29th, 2019 at 12:08 PM ^
i misspoke on the "only" part, and edited it accordingly.
April 29th, 2019 at 11:18 AM ^
Yeah! Fuck Higdon this is clearly poetic justice! But seriously, this is a bad post and you should feel bad. Quit judging a player who was just trying to do what was best for his future. He doesn’t owe anything to the asshats who think Michigan sports are the only priority for the players. Please don’t be an asshat.
April 29th, 2019 at 11:25 AM ^
Could someone explain to me why its perfectly fine for everyone in this enterprise to look out for their own bottom line except for the players?
April 29th, 2019 at 12:43 PM ^
Is it? Florida fans sure love and respect Urban Meyer. How do most fans in the Big Ten feel about Jim Deleny for "just looking out for the bottom line." I see this a lot, and I'm not sure that it's true. Most people are a little disdainful of those looking out for the bottom line when it comes at the expense of their own enjoyment. I don't see any evidence that mindset only applies to college football players.
April 29th, 2019 at 12:55 PM ^
I see a lot of ire and anger directed at the players for following the system the coaches and administrators set up for them. While you are correct that it is not exclusively directed at the players, there has been way more talk about Higdon missing a bowl game than a certain coach leaving for the enemy.