College GameDay's Desmond Howard explains his 'entitlement' remark
Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit went viral for the wrong reasons on New Year’s Day for the comments they made on "College GameDay" about players opting out of bowl games.
In case you missed it, Herbstreit went too far by saying “I think this era of player just … doesn’t love football.”
That’s a ridiculous and wrong statement to make and Twitter rightfully ripped him for it.
Howard spoke about how bowl games used to mean a lot more to players during his playing days: “(Players today) have a sense of entitlement and it’s like, if we’re not going to the one that matters, then it just doesn’t have as much value to them as it did us growing up.”
Well, there were only 18 bowl games in 1991 (Howard’s senior year). This year there were more 40 bowl games and many of them are just money grabs for everyone but the players. The business of college football has changed and players now have more power.
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This week on a new episode of Paste BN Sports’ “Sports Seriously” I had a chance to talk to Howard about his comments. He told me that because of live TV he was rushed and couldn’t say everything he wanted to say so I gave him the floor to explain.
"The small fraction of players I was talking about, I was addressing that the competitive spirit seems to be not as strong as it used to be," he said. "That’s why the cup of the transfer portal runneth over right now. It’s ridiculous. Guys don’t want to stay there and compete anymore."
He also addressed players pulling out of bowl games.
"When I played, the only reason you wouldn’t battle with your brothers was that you were injured, you were hurt," he said. "Now, I understand that a lot of these players are like, ‘Hey man, this game is not a playoff game. It’s a glorified exhibition and I’ve been projected to go in the first round.’
"I understand that side. I really do. But you got to keep in mind that you can’t just flip a switch where your whole mentality, the way you’ve been raised and conditioned, is that you always go out there and you battle, you battle, you battle with your brothers unless you were hurt to now flip and say, ‘You shouldn’t play. You shouldn’t play. You shouldn’t play,’ not that you’re injured but because ‘You know what? This game doesn’t mean much.' "
We also talked about players getting paid for their likeness, and at the end of that discussion, Howard said he had no problem with players making decisions to protect their financial futures.
“I’m probably one of the strongest voices as far as advocating for players and their autonomy. I was talking about Reggie Bush and the fact that I thought USC owed him money when he was there when it wasn’t popular to do it back then. But I told everybody that all USC needed to do was open up the books. How many No. 5 jerseys did they sell before Reggie Bush wore the jerseys? OK. How many did you sell after Reggie Bush wore the jersey and won the Heisman?
"It’s really simple math. He gave that jersey value – there’s no way you can’t tell me he didn’t give that jersey value and he should be compensated for the value he gave that jersey because it’s part of his likeness. So I’ve been a strong advocate for players getting paid for their likeness and autonomy. I have no problem with players having the ability to make these decisions, it’s just like I said – we’re now in the time where guys are making decisions because they want to protect the bag and I can’t fault them.”
We’ll see if Howard and Herbstreit have more to say on this before Monday night’s national championship game.