Posted on 12/06/2022 3:16:26 AM PST by where's_the_Outrage?
Ohio State won't have one of its best players for the Peach Bowl against Georgia on Dec. 31.
According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has declared for the 2023 NFL Draft and will not play for the Buckeyes again.
"I want to be out there competing with my brothers more than anything," Smith-Njigba told Thamel. "The decision to turn pro was made after I was unable to come back on multiple occasions during the season and the doctors determined I would be unable to participate in the playoffs."
Smith-Njigba has been battling a lingering hamstring issue for this entire season after he came into the season with high expectations.
He injured the hamstring during OSU's season opener against Notre Dame and it just never got back to 100%. He'll finish this season with only five receptions for 43 yards after finishing last season with 95 receptions for 1,606 yards and nine touchdowns.
His focus will now be on getting ready for the NFL Combine in February before the 2023 NFL Draft takes place from Apr. 27-29.
I can understand an NFL prospect opting out of a 2nd/3rd rate bowl, but the CPF!
I hope NFL teams refuse to draft him as he is not a team player.
Oh darn. Hardship for buckeyes.
Michiganders everywhere weep.
Some team will draft him high and pay him many millions to be in the NFL. Because, you know, racism ...
There’s no “I” in team.
If your “I’s” suck, so does your team.
Not a comment on this guy in particular but on that canard.
While I can appreciate the seemingly selfish actions, I can see his point.
Why take a risk on getting injured and losing a football career over one game?
Smith-Njigba is a wise young man. Show me the money!
There’s also “Take 1 for the team”
Remember the last time I heard it, I was in Iraq leading an Army/Navy unit and needed the support from an Army Bn. Seems the BN SGM (female) made a late night visit to one of the Navy CPOs (male). We told him he needed to take 1 for the team.
“I hope NFL teams refuse to draft him as he is not a team player”
HA!
I hate to break it to you my friend but pro football hasn’t been a TRUE team sport in the classic sense for a long long time and the “I” reigns supreme. As long as tickets are sold and the money keeps flowing the nfl will not kill the goose that laid the golden egg and it can do almost anything and will be protected. Why do you think the nfl DOESN’T drug test during the season?
Except for the drug testing all that goes for college football too for that matter.
Anyone who thinks college football players don’t get paid is just kidding themselves.
Chances are this guy is basically getting a pay raise from a university to a pro team to be named in the future.
The NFL is a business. If he’s got the skills someone will hire him.
CC
While I can see your point, that actually isn’t why this particular player is opting -—out, though many do for that reason
Having bothered to read the article, I think that almost none of the other posters have. His doctors say that he can’t participate in the playoffs, and he hasn’t done much participating the entire season—five receptions, with an injusry in the opening game, in which he has two receptions.
His three receptions since, in two games, are for 21, 12, and 7 yards—with the two longest against Toledo. There isn’t any selfishness going on, and as he would only be a major impact if he managed to recover significantly over the next month, this is an attempt to make news over non-news.
Still, it gives freepers something to post about without the bother of reading.
I seriously thought it was going to be something like that when I read the headline.
Good for him. The docs said he couldn’t play in the playoffs, no brainer.
That’s some hamstring injury. It bugged him all season.
I hate to say it but they’re doing all they can to ruin college football. Transfer portal, NIL, etc. We need to quit referring to them as student-athletes. They are not. At best, they’re athlete-students. Most of them shouldn’t be in a college anyway. They need to find another path to play professional sports.
I know so many people that are saying they are sick of the game. They are watching less and less. So am I.
I agree. In this situation, the reason for Inot playing is very valid.
Sounds like he hasn’t been/wouldn’t be playing anyway.
I didn’t read thevarticle, admittedly. I was just commenting on the risk factor, if he did decide to suit up for the sake of his teamates. That might have been the last thing he did. There are people who might seek to remove from the NFL by screwing up his ankle or giving him an extra hard tackle, to try and break his back. That’s just an unnecessary risk in my books.
It goes for anything in life. If your next step is assured, do you risk that by having a bad day where you are,for the sake of team cohesion?
Cowards!!!
Damn! Really???? Its one thing to miss a meaningless bowl game. Its quite another to skip out on a playoff game.
Back when I was attending Georgia (in the late 1700s), we used to make slaves play football but wouldn't let them attend most classes.
An exception was made for classes at the School of Journalism.
Though we couldn't anticipate the Civil War at that point, we could foresee that one day slaves would play a significant editorial role at Atlanta newspapers and would need to be prepared.
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