Business Decision

Dear NFL Draft Early Entry Candidate,

Congratulations on an outstanding college career!  The fact that you are even in this position means you have worked very hard and had a tremendous amount of success on and off the field.  Job well done.

But now may be the tough part.  Should you enter your name into the NFL draft and leave school early? 

As a guy that played in the league for a while and knows a thing or two about pro football I don't think the decision is very hard with one small caveat.

Go pro.

Your body is your business and it is a depreciating asset.  Actually, deteriorating might be the better word.  Pretty much any Wall Street investment firm or Fortune 500 business or insurance actuary would tell you that turning professional is the most prudent financial decision unless there is a strong likelihood that you can significantly improve your status as a prospect next year.  The key words there are "strong" and "significantly" and that combination doesn't happen very often.

This is especially true given the new rookie wage scale in the NFL which drastically reduced the money given to the top picks and forbids any re-negotiations until after a player's third year in the league.

Unless that "strong" and "significant" combo is a distinct possibility there is really only one reason to stay in school and it is not education.  Don't get me wrong, I value education and the things it can do for you in life.  Highly, in fact.  So highly that it is why I chose to play my college ball at Princeton.  But education will always be there and you can finish up later.

The only real reason you should stay is if you value the college experience so highly that you are willing to risk your financial future.  That could certainly be the case.  Maybe you enjoy being the big man on campus and everything that comes along with that.  Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray is in your shoes and he has decided to stay in school and thus will be the king of Athens for another year.

 Perhaps you believe that the innocence is lost once you leave the comforts of those college surroundings and start earning a paycheck and working for a living.  I think those are all compelling arguments and it is entirely possible that guys like Matt Leinart, Matt Barkley, and Montee Ball will look back on their decisions when they are 75 years old and talking with their grandkids and be so happy that they had that extra year of the college experience.  I can see that.   

All that said, if pro football is what you want to do and financial security is important to you and your family than you need to maximize your physical gifts, pronto.

No, money isn't everything (I didn't get into the football media or write letters/columns like this with the idea of making truckloads of money)but you need to know that your body is a ticking time bomb and you never know when it is going to go off.  I didn't realize that when I was your age.

Mine went off my fourth year in the league when I had a pair of herniated discs in my back that required surgery.  I was never the same player after that and I really wasn't all that great to begin with!

Fortunately for me I had signed a contract extension after my third year with the Buffalo Bills that enabled me to make more money that fourth year than my first three combined.  That never would have happened had I redshirted (Ivy league doesn't do much of that) and spent an extra year in college like so many players do and like you are considering right now.  That would have had a big impact on not only my life but the lives of my wife and children as well.

You see, every single workout in the weight room or play in practices and games brings with it not only a risk of injury but also greater wear and tear on your most precious asset; your body.  Why put more miles on your engine without getting compensated for it?  At least in the NFL you get reimbursed for that mileage.

Just ask former South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore.  The last two years have cost him millions of dollars that he will never get back and my guess is he wishes he could have turned pro after his dynamic freshman campaign. 

That's one reason why I think his former teammate Jadeveon Clowney should be able to leave school now if he wanted.  Same goes for guys like Marquise Lee at USC and Teddy Bridgewater at Louisville.  Heck they all would probably be top 5 picks if they were allowed by the NFL to leave school after just two years.

Not to mention the league is designed in a way such that longevity and years of service really begin to compound from a benefits standpoint and allow you to really provide a great long-term existence for your family.  It's hard not to think that another year in college doesn't have a good chance of taking one away from your NFL career on the backside.

I know your emotions are pulling you in different directions and who really knows how you will feel about this decision when your playing career is long gone?  Maybe you will regret that you passed up a chance to have another year of the uniquely special college experience?

That certainly may be the case and if you go that route I totally understand.  I just felt like you should know that the injury rate in the NFL is 100%, meaning everybody gets hurt at some point.

Depending upon when that is, what does the rest of your life look like?

 MAILBAG QUESTIONS: Send your questions either via email to ross@sportsusamedia.com or via Twitter to both @rosstuckernfl and @sports_usa.

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