I see both sides as I will explain shortly, but it is one more step towards even more of a sea change for college football that might not be a good one.
For the Buckeyes and as a Buckeye fan, I understand how it feels to have lost one of the best two defensive players in the country and it would have been very nice to hope that Bosa would have been able to return for a potential playoff run or even the Michigan game.
However, after hearing from Bosa's father (Former Dolphin John Bosa), it looks to have been unlikely that Bosa would have been able to return for the playoffs at close to 100 percent and nearly impossible for the Michigan game.
Considering that outcome, that Bosa would be lucky to be back at all and even higher odds that he would be close to peak level, I'm OK with this- For Nick Bosa.
I mean, Bosa is going to be in the top three players selected in the draft and an aggravated injury could cost him millions of dollars, so in this particular case, I understand it.
Since Bosa wasn't going to return for his senior year anyway and he had to rehab his injury, I can understand why he didn't want to squeeze classes into a packed schedule.
I do think as a team captain, that Bosa should have considered that part of the decision a little more, but perhaps he did that or talked to the team and received the OK.
Still, this is a multi-million dollar decision and let's be honest- you go to college for setting up your future and since it is now in order, risking injury can only dilute that future.
Besides, for all that I love Ohio State football, with the exception of support from boosters and people that remember the gridiron heroes of the past with jobs, opportunities etc, Ohio State will move onto the next player that helps pack that stadium.
It sounds cold, it is and until players start receiving some type of compensation ( and any such compensation would have been nowhere near enough for Nick Bosa to return when you consider the money involved), the lack of loyalty will go both ways, no matter how many times you sing "Carmen Ohio".
I get why Nick Bosa did this and with his draft position and the health issue adds a variable that many players that will have to make a similar decision in future will not have to deal with.
However, it is another step down the road in college football towards a change in the game.
Last year, it was Denzel Ward sitting out the Cotton Bowl (a non-playoff game) to avoid injury before the draft, now it's Bosa not attempting to return and the ball could possibly just be beginning to roll downhill.
Players have established that non-playoff bowl games aren't worth the risk, so what's next- conference title games?
If you get there, what are the chances of a hard-hitting rivalry game such as the Michigan game that ends your season?
Those are likely stretches but are at least theoretical scenarios that could happen depending on the situation and player.
Ironically, for all the edges that the Power Five (and especially the elite schools there) have in so many areas, this is an area that the Group of Five schools will be able to avoid for the most part.
Now, there will be exceptions- I'd be amazed if Ed Oliver played in Houston's bowl game unless they were the G-5 representative in the New Year's Day bowls, but usually for those schools, they'll play the bowls with the same players that got them there and that will be an advantage in the small to medium bowl games where they would play a lesser Power Five team.
In closing, I'm not mad at Nick Bosa, I think he made the right call and Ohio State will move on to the next player until this happens again.
Still, I think more and more of these type things are going to happen and it won't be good for the game.
I don't have an answer to solve this problem, but some people are going to have to start thinking about this because it is not going to leave anytime in the future.
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