Sydney Brown, Devon Witherspoon will not play in bowl game

pruman91 · Dec 21, 2022

Illinois' Devon Witherspoon and Sydney Brown set for NFL futures after meteoric rises

Devon Witherspoon and Sydney Brown were both lightly recruited but are now headed for the NFL.

www.stltoday.com

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Sydney Brown and Devon Witherspoon never imagined they'd be sitting at a podium talking about their NFL futures a few short years ago.
Neither were highly recruited — Sydney Brown as a late addition to Illinois’ 2018 class and Devon WItherspoon as a zero-star recruit out of high school.

Illini2010-11 · Dec 21, 2022

pruman91 said:
Illinois' Devon Witherspoon and Sydney Brown set for NFL futures after meteoric rises

Devon Witherspoon and Sydney Brown were both lightly recruited but are now headed for the NFL.

www.stltoday.com

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Sydney Brown and Devon Witherspoon never imagined they'd be sitting at a podium talking about their NFL futures a few short years ago.
Neither were highly recruited — Sydney Brown as a late addition to Illinois’ 2018 class and Devon WItherspoon as a zero-star recruit out of high school.

This speaks to the dedication and effort that they put into their craft and is also a testament to the coaching staff for helping develop them into NFL prospects. Both of them getting drafted, especially Spoon if he goes in the first round, will be a huge recruiting message. Another reason why I have no problem at all with both of them sitting out the bowl game to prepare for the draft and avoid any unnecessary injuries. They are both big reasons why the defense made a big leap the last few years, and hopefully, what they started will be the framework for long-term success for the program.

FGCUIllini · Dec 21, 2022

I could not be anymore happier for Spoon and Syd B! I never got why people get so "heated" when a player decides to sit out a bowl game due to fear of injury or to prep for the NFL draft if they are considered a top 3 round pick.

Now, with that said, if it were the CFP playoffs, etc., then as a fan, I would be a little "pissed," but I think we have a few more years to go before I have to worry about that, LOL.

Mr. Tibbs · Dec 21, 2022

yea, right now, besides that year when Bosa sat out his entire season , players are not opting out meaningful season games or the CFP games.

IlliniCardinal · Dec 26, 2022

As long as the Illini beat Mississippi State, I’ll be happy.

WhiteHorseWings · Dec 26, 2022

the juiceman cometh said:
There is no exact parallel for these non-playoff Bowl games but here's where I'm coming from:

1. Awards have already been given out.
2. The atmosphere is overall more celebratory than of intense competition.
3. Nothing you do in this game can elevate you to a chance at a conference or national title, no matter what your record going in.
4. Coaches regularly change teams before this game and you often see temporary one game solutions for these Bowl games.
5. No matter how badly a team gets blown out in one of these games nobody is losing their job over it.

There's just a low stakes feeling to the whole thing that is closer to the Pro Bowl than any other example I could come up with.

Didn’t all but one, or sometimes one plus the Rose Bowl used to be non-playoff bowls? All meaningless?

(Guess I just became a Progressive commercial and turned into my parents)

illini80 · Dec 26, 2022

WhiteHorseWings said:
Didn’t all but one, or sometimes one plus the Rose Bowl used to be non-playoff bowls? All meaningless?

(Guess I just became a Progressive commercial and turned into my parents)

Probably, but they were viewed differently and moving up a few spots in the final poll was a strong motivation and source of pride. As the number of bowls rose each year, they became less and less consequential because there were so many mediocre teams playing. I’m not sure exactly when we crossed that threshold, but it’s been a while.

1970 John · Dec 26, 2022

I keep hearing about how players are being robbed of what’s rightfully theirs. Like the training facilities? The coaching? The trainers? Seems there’s something they’re getting. Forget the free education. It’s inconsequential. They are getting free trade school training, without which they’d not be getting those NFL millions.

Ransom Stoddard · Dec 28, 2022

1970 John said:
I keep hearing about how players are being robbed of what’s rightfully theirs. Like the training facilities? The coaching? The trainers? Seems there’s something they’re getting. Forget the free education. It’s inconsequential. They are getting free trade school training, without which they’d not be getting those NFL millions.

I'm not sure how you define "free", but I don't think I could or have ever put in the physical work these young men do, risking injury so that other people can make money off of their efforts, for "free".

lstewart53x3 · Dec 28, 2022

1970 John said:
I keep hearing about how players are being robbed of what’s rightfully theirs. Like the training facilities? The coaching? The trainers? Seems there’s something they’re getting. Forget the free education. It’s inconsequential. They are getting free trade school training, without which they’d not be getting those NFL millions.

It’s simple:

They’re receiving ~$100,000/year in value while many of them are worth 3x-10x that.

1970 John · Dec 28, 2022

lstewart53x3 said:
It’s simple:

They’re receiving ~$100,000/year in value while many of them are worth 3x-10x that.

How do figure what they’re getting? How do you place a value on that?

1970 John · Dec 28, 2022

Ransom Stoddard said:
I'm not sure how you define "free", but I don't think I could or have ever put in the physical work these young men do, risking injury so that other people can make money off of their efforts, for "free".

Had they not played at Illinois (or other Power 5 school where they would be developed as they were), where would they be financially? BTW, do you have any financial data on the Power 5 athletic department, how many are in the black?

ChiefGritty · Dec 28, 2022

lstewart53x3 said:
It’s simple:

They’re receiving ~$100,000/year in value while many of them are worth 3x-10x that.

Which the marketplace is now (sorta) free to reveal.

There was always less magic in this than either side of the debate wanted to pretend.

lstewart53x3 · Dec 28, 2022

1970 John said:
How do figure what they’re getting? How do you place a value on that?

From what I’ve read, the average total cost for college in the U.S. is $35,000 per year (including supplies/food/etc)

They also get housing and nutrition paid for.

So if they weren’t on a football scholarship, they’d probably pay somewhere around ~$100,000 per year to access what they access, hence me saying they receive $100,000 per year in value.

Yet their value in a free market can be quite a bit higher than that depending on the player.

the juiceman cometh · Dec 28, 2022

1970 John said:
Had they not played at Illinois (or other Power 5 school where they would be developed as they were), where would they be financially? BTW, do you have any financial data on the Power 5 athletic department, how many are in the black?

The highest paid government employee in almost every state is either a college football or basketball head coach. Even AD's are starting to join the over $1 millon/yr club. Whitman' salary for 2022 was just south of $1 million, and surely that number will continue to rise. It's time to stop pretending there isn't real money being brought in by college football and basketball players.

As for the "where would they be if they didn't play for Illinois" argument, well let's imagine a world in which football or basketball prospects don't reach the pro ranks through college. What would that look like? Probably something like European soccer academies, where prospects start getting paid around the age of 14 or 15 and some of the top academy players make six figure salaries before they debut for the pro squad, even though they bring in practically zero revenue.

The reality of the situation is that even in the age of NIL the market for athletes in revenue college sports is still far from a "free market" and the framework in place applies downward pressure on player compensation. In a free market these players, particularly the top players, would be making a ton more.

Sydney Brown, Devon Witherspoon will not play in bowl game

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