Klatt: ‘Crazy’ to call Fournette, McCaffrey selfish for skipping bowl

Late last week Christian McCaffrey’s prolific career with the Stanford Cardinal came to a conclusion abruptly. Not due to injury but instead the decision to forego the team’s Sun Bowl appearance to focus on preparing for the NFL draft.

The decision came just days after LSU’s Leonard Fournette did the same, skipping the Citrus Bowl for the same reason.

And since each player’s announcement, critics have come out against Fournette and McCaffrey for their decisions.

But Fox Sports football analyst Joel Klatt told 104.3 The Fan’s “Schlereth and Evans” on Wednesday that it’s “asinine” and “crazy to label guys like McCaffrey and Fournette as “selfish” or “non-competitive” for skipping their team’s bowl games in order to remain healthy for a possible shot at the NFL.

“People are getting upset because I feel like we, as fans, view college sports, in particular college football, in an idealistic environment. We want this utopian society where we’re playing for the love of game and the love of school and so on and so forth,” Klatt said.

“In reality, if you just sat down and actually looked at the facts, you would 100 percent support Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey.”

Klatt pointed to the example of Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith, the 2015 Butkus Award winner for college football’s top linebacker.

Smith was considered by many an elite draft prospect, if not a top-5 pick, before he tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee in the Irish’s final game of the season against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl.

According to The Monday Morning Quarterback’s Albert Breer, Smith, had he been selected fifth overall, would have received $17 million more in his rookie deal.

Say Jaylon Smith went 5th overall. He’d get a fully guaranteed 4-yr, $23.5M deal. Wound up with a 4-yr, $6.5M ($4.5M guar) deal instead.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 19, 2016

“I hope guys like Fournette and McCaffrey, who have earned the right to say that my status is cemented as far as the NFL and earning a living as I move forward, I hope that they do protect themselves moving forward because it does break my heart what happened to Jaylon Smith,” Klatt said.

Smith told USA Today in April he didn’t regret the decision to play, and would do it again if he could, but Klatt suggested that safeguards could prevent making these young athletes from having to make such a decision.

“I think that we have to implement something that is going to incentivize players to not only stay in school but also get their degree, play these games,” Klatt said.

He suggested perhaps an escrow account that would guarantee payments to college players for things like insurance premiums against catastrophe or health benefits, which would be contingent upon graduation or completion of the student athlete’s eligibility.

If it were up to Klatt, he said he’d made a different decision personally than McCaffrey or Fournette, but he supports players “looking after their future.”

“A bowl, in and of itself, is really a cash grab for the school and the coaches in terms of the bonuses and everything along those lines,” Klatt said. “I just feel like, in particular, these to guys gave everything to LSU and Stanford. So why is it that those programs deserve ‘30 more touches’ for free?”

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @Johnnyhart7.