[winflop]

I have really mixed emotions over this.

I'm thankful and grateful that I was able to see so much of CMac's career live and in person, including 10 games last year.  He is arguably the greatest player ever to put on a Stanford football jersey.  But I also believe that when you are going to leave an organization of any kind, you want to leave with as great an impression as possible.  I think McCaffrey has not only done the exact opposite but he may be on the forefront of a very disturbing trend that I really don't like and that could be very damaging to college football.

Bowl games may be an exhibition of sorts, but they are part of the football season.  With so many bowl games, it is part of the season for more than 50% of all D1 teams.  By choosing not to play, McCaffrey has left his team before the season is over and that is not sitting well with me at all.  I don't care that his teammates support his decision, at least publicly.  The argument that it would be different if it had been the Rose Bowl or CFP carries no weight for me.  By that logic, once Stanford had been eliminated from a shot at the division title, he should have just left then.

And what of all the other players who are also leaving and looking toward careers in the NFL?  Should they all quit too?  That's the trend that worries me the most.

I'm a big believer in "finish what you start."  I tell that to my boys ad nauseum, I tell that to the Boy Scouts in my troop.  I think McCaffrey's decision more than anything else sets a terrible example for kids.

When I think about McCaffrey's career, these are the things that will come to mind
- Catching a pass in stride and sprinting 50+ for a TD against UCLA on the first touch of his career
- Taking a pass on the opening play of the 2016 Rose Bowl and going 70+ for a TD
- Scoring a running, receiving, and passing TD in the same game against U$C in the 2015 Pac-12 CCG
- Leaving the team before the 2016 season ended

Unfortunately that last one will sit alongside the others.

[winflop]

I have really mixed emotions over this.

I'm thankful and grateful that I was able to see so much of CMac's career live and in person, including 10 games last year.  He is arguably the greatest player ever to put on a Stanford football jersey.  But I also believe that when you are going to leave an organization of any kind, you want to leave with as great an impression as possible.  I think McCaffrey has not only done the exact opposite but he may be on the forefront of a very disturbing trend that I really don't like and that could be very damaging to college football.

Bowl games may be an exhibition of sorts, but they are part of the football season.  With so many bowl games, it is part of the season for more than 50% of all D1 teams.  By choosing not to play, McCaffrey has left his team before the season is over and that is not sitting well with me at all.  I don't care that his teammates support his decision, at least publicly.  The argument that it would be different if it had been the Rose Bowl or CFP carries no weight for me.  By that logic, once Stanford had been eliminated from a shot at the division title, he should have just left then.

And what of all the other players who are also leaving and looking toward careers in the NFL?  Should they all quit too?  That's the trend that worries me the most.

I'm a big believer in "finish what you start."  I tell that to my boys ad nauseum, I tell that to the Boy Scouts in my troop.  I think McCaffrey's decision more than anything else sets a terrible example for kids.

When I think about McCaffrey's career, these are the things that will come to mind
- Catching a pass in stride and sprinting 50+ for a TD against UCLA on the first touch of his career
- Taking a pass on the opening play of the 2016 Rose Bowl and going 70+ for a TD
- Scoring a running, receiving, and passing TD in the same game against U$C in the 2015 Pac-12 CCG
- Leaving the team before the 2016 season ended

Unfortunately that last one will sit alongside the others.