There’s one other shoe of note that dropped yesterday.
Virginia Tech will be playing the 2020 season without one of its best defensive players.
Cornerback Caleb Farley said Wednesday he won’t play in 2020 because of concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and will instead train for the 2021 NFL draft.
“After much consideration with my family, I have decided to opt out of the 2020 college football season and begin preparing for the 2021 NFL draft,” Farley said in a video statement. “I am opting out due to uncertain health conditions and regulations and all of the other opt outs going on in football right now. I tragically lost my mother Robin January 2, 2018 to an illness and I cannot afford to lose another parent or loved one. Though the competitor in me badly wants to play this season, I cannot ignore what’s going on in my heart and I must make the decision that brings me the most peace. Thank you, Virginia Tech — my coaches, teammates and anyone else who has supported me in the past. I wish you all the best. Stay safe, and God bless.”
Farley entered the 2020 college football season widely considered as one of the best corners in the country. He had 12 passes broken up and four interceptions in 10 games as a sophomore in 2019. He missed the final two games of the season because of a back injury and had offseason back surgery.
You probably saw Farley’s name on some preseason All-ACC teams and even some preseason All-American teams. The corner will likely be a high pick in the 2021 NFL draft even with just two years of game film. Farley had 36 tackles and two interceptions as a freshman in 2018.
My bet is that he’s just the first of several high profile players to pull the plug on 2020 college football. What say you?
Get The Picture 
I think Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence should do the same thing. They will both be top 5 picks. And OMG how funny would that be, OSU gets a one year rental.
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If my son received a 1st or 2nd round draft grade I would suggest that he not play this season. Given the craziness that is 2020, and the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming college football season, I would advice him to leave and leave today. I believe that college coaches are looking out for their own best interest, not what is best for their players. As the kids say today, Bye Felicia. Assuming the NFL will not frown upon kids sitting out this season. And why would they? One less year of wear and tear on a kids body.
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lol Bye Felicia… from the 90’s. Damn, the 90’s were 30 years ago?
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Boys in the Hood – ice cube
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That’s Friday- Ice Cube!!!
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Oh! My apologies. There you go
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My man
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Can’t argue with that.
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Yup. Just waiting for that shoe to drop.
Honestly I wish they’d just announce that they’re moving the season to the spring.
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For What it’s Worth:
In his best interest perhaps but Screw You Team it’s about me and mine. Relative to that just saw a dot on the Net where a Arizona OG I believe with chances of starting this year after fill in duty last year was dismissed from the team for conduct unbecoming the UA because he was speaking out on the lack of safety produces in house to which the UA took away his meal ticket and again he ranted so he was dismissed from the team permanently.
Funny it turns out there is a lot of I’s in Team all. I guess you could say this atmosphere has been our Me Too, Lives Matter and in general forgetting what it is to be a human being.
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The guy was flaunting the protocols.
“He confirmed to ESPN that he broke protocol — including showing up to the team facility without a mask and breaking a mandatory quarantine.”
Why should they put up with that?
I would say they had an obligation not to put up with it. If you really want to know what he’s about:
On May 30, Burrola posted a tweet stating: “COVID-19 is fake.”
Stupid has its costs. You can only try to contain its spread.
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I’d be surprised if we see a list anywhere near this long:
https://nypost.com/2020/07/28/nfl-player-opt-outs-full-list-of-who-is-skipping-2020-season/
These nfl guys are giving up a ton of money, but most (all?) already have money. These college players don’t. They can’t afford to assume that the tape they already have out there, plus combine, will do it for them. They also can’t assume a frustrated coach might fuck them up to the nfl scouts. There’s just too big a gap between 8th player selected and 37th player selected in terms of money to sit.
We’ll see some college guys sit but not many imho. The vast majority will put their head down, go to work and hope for the best.
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I agree and to add a bit to what you wrote, Farley had some family issues that not everyone has that just tipped to scales in favor of sitting out. If they play a 10 or 11 game season,and if the protocols are successful, I would suspect most will stay for reasons you cite. Of course, that is two big Ifs. But, I think it is too soon to make wholesale predictions.
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If there is failure, the colleges will shut it down before there is a exodus of players IMHO.
The attitude of the players will be (is) being closely monitored and out of public view.
If coaches were reporting widespread concern on the rosters I think we’d be getting different messages from the conferences right now.
Coaches are telling ads who are telling commissioners that the attitudes are positive. If that changes they’ll tell us by canceling the whole thing.
They may want to drag them kicking and screaming, for the $, but any reports of coercion will be more costly than a shut down.
The message is play if you want to. Don’t if you don’t want to. Once (If) kids start choosing door no. 2 in any significant numbers, its over.
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^ protocol and AU not UA made me think of the hatred of the Plainsmen, Tigers and War Eagles
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Id say about 20-30 Top players say screw this. I also say some of them really don’t push themselves while not playing and have terrible combines/careers.
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That’s why I’ve thought keeping camps and practices going is important. It’s a safety issue too
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Has anyone lost more starter material in the last 2 years than Fuentes at VAPoly?
He must be a joy to be around.
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Biggest thing the NCAA has going right now is that 99% of the players are already on campus and engaged in team activities. If players and parents were having to make the decision next week around going back to campus, you’d see a much larger % opt out. Pretty hard for a kid to leave campus now or for a parent to tell his son to leave his team.
Gotta give Sankey some credit for making the decision on May 22nd for kids to be allowed to return to campus for workouts. Shrewd business move on his part.
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I think most joining him will be similar players: meaning potential first or second round picks, who play for a team with no real shot at a title.
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This option had already existed. I don’t know if many take this route, but it certainly could become the future irrespective of Covid.
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It’s going to be very interesting indeed to see how this plays out for Farley and any other college players who follow suit. I wish him the best, it’s obviously a risk and it has to be a tough decision. One thing that is going to have an impact here is that the NFL salary cap is likely to take a huge hit given that the league is about to take a big revenue hit. That’s likely going to mean that even rookies who are drafted in decent spots are probably going to have less money, right? In that situation I’d want to have done every thing I possibly could to play my way into a top slot.
On the other hand, if Farley or any other all-conference type players skip the season this year (if there is one) and end up in high draft spots, that’s the sort of thing that could have an impact on college football for many years to come. The corona virus risk may not be there, but the risk of getting Willis McGahee’d is always there. If we see that your junior or senior season isn’t necessary, there’s not as much reason to risk it for nothing more than a scholarship.
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Taking the student out of student athlete….lol. if you could full time practice and get lots of coaching and no rules and no school…
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