Georgia football senior tailback Brian Herrien is not in New Orleans with the Bulldogs and will not play in the Sugar Bowl, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation
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"No player who is a 1-3rd pick should play in these exhibition non-playoff games."
The odds of getting hurt in any one game are small(that would end a career). But it basically boils down to a business decision. Say a kid gets hurt and drops in the draft or misses it all together, that could be devastating emotionally and financially. Something the coaching staff doesn't have to worry about. Most of these kids come from poor or middle class families. It's life changing for them.
Teams' top players holding out of bowl games really affects the quality of these games. It really leaves you with a question as to who the better team was for the season.
I think the schools/NCAA should take out short term insurance policies to cover career and even season-long injuries incurred in bowl games. Maybe this would stop at least some of the bowl game holdouts.
