Alright, let’s talk about this here Orange Bowl thing, the 2023 one. You know, the football game. Heard a whole lotta fuss about it, players not playin’ and such.
So, what’s the big deal with this “opt-out” thing? Well, seems like some of these young fellas, they decide they ain’t gonna play in the bowl game. Why? ‘Cause they wanna go to the NFL, the professional football, you know, where the big money is. Can’t say I blame ’em, money’s important, gotta put food on the table.
Now, this FSU team, that Florida State bunch, they got hit hard. Heard they lost like, three of their best catchers, the guys who catch the ball. Keon Coleman, Johnny Wilson, and that Jaheim Bell fella, all gone. Poof! Just like that. They say they wanna get ready for the NFL draft. Can’t fault ’em for lookin’ out for themselves, but it sure does make the game different, don’t it? Them boys caught a whole heap of touchdowns, more’n half, I reckon. And lots of yards too, more yards than I can count on my fingers and toes, that’s for sure.
- FSU’s top three receivers opted out: Keon Coleman, Johnny Wilson, and Jaheim Bell.
- They scored a lot of touchdowns: 15 out of FSU’s 25 receiving touchdowns.
- They also had a lot of receiving yards: 1,778 out of 3,372 yards.
Then there’s Kentucky, yeah, them Wildcats. Heard they lost a good runner, that Ray Davis boy, and a fella who catches interceptions, Andru Phillips. They ain’t playin’ either. Guess they’re headin’ to the NFL too. Coach Stoops, he’s the Kentucky coach, he ain’t sayin’ they’re gone for good, maybe they’ll change their minds, but who knows?
It ain’t just them teams though. Heard other schools got the same problem. This transfer portal thing, players jumpin’ from one team to another, like frogs on lily pads. And then some fellas just don’t want to risk gettin’ hurt before the draft. Makes you wonder, who’s even gonna be playin’ in these games? I heard tell that Duke lost Aeneas Peebles to the transfer portal and Brandon Johnson too. Seems like nobody wants to play no more unless it’s for the big prize.
This Orange Bowl, wasn’t even for the big championship this year. It’s just one of them other bowl games. You know, not the fancy ones. Neither FSU nor the other team reached their goal of winning the national championship in 2023. They both wanted to be the best, but seems like they fell short. So, maybe that’s why some of these players don’t care so much about playin’. They figured, what’s the point?
Now, I heard some coach, Kirby Smart, I think his name was, he was complainin’ about all this optin’ out. Said it’s a problem. Maybe he’s right. But what can you do? Can’t force these young fellas to play if they don’t wanna. They got their own futures to think about. It’s a different world now, not like when I was young.
This whole thing happened right quick too, just a few days before the game. Like 95 hours or something before kickoff, all this news started happening. Not a lot of time for the teams to figure out what to do. Gotta scramble, I guess. Find some other fellas to play. Hope they’re any good.
So, that’s the lowdown on this Orange Bowl opt-out situation as far as I can tell. Lots of players not playin’, coaches worried, and folks like me wonderin’ what it all means for the game of football. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
It ain’t like the old days, that’s for sure. Back then, you played for your team, for the pride of it. Now, it’s all about the money and the next level. Can’t say it’s wrong, just different. Times change, I guess, and we gotta change with ’em. Still, makes you miss the old days sometimes, when things were simpler.
Anyways, that’s all I got to say about it. Hope it made some sense to ya. It’s a complicated mess, this football business. But hey, at least it gives us somethin’ to talk about, right?
Tags: [Orange Bowl, opt-outs, FSU, Kentucky, college football, NFL Draft, player transfers, 2023 season, Keon Coleman, Johnny Wilson, Jaheim Bell, Ray Davis, Andru Phillips, Kirby Smart, Aeneas Peebles, Brandon Johnson, transfer portal]
