Justin Fields does not need to take another snap of college football.
If the NFL concept happened today, Ohio State’s QB1 would almost certainly be a top-five pick.
Fields has been paid as a generation quarterback talent since high school, Fields only needed one season as a college-level starter to make the rave reviews, when he was in one of the most dominant and efficient seasons in ‘ turned Ohio State history, and earned himself a trip to New York as a finalist in the Heisman Trophy.
Fields threw for 3,273 yards on just 354 attempts – even more efficiently than Dwayne Haskins the year before – and an absurd 41-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio, which is the most impressive ratio in college football history. He finished the season with an 181.4 quarterback rating, the best in program history of a full-time starter.
He has done more than enough to secure his status as one of the top prospects in the upcoming NFL draft. To be honest, he is only worth tens of millions a few months from a payday.
A few would blame him if he moved to protect that draft supplies amid a global pandemic and an uncertain season. He could have opted for preparation in the NFL like Penn State’s Micah Parsons, Purdue’s Rondale Moore or Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman, or left the team once the Big Ten was postponed the season after the spring.
But Fields does not. In fact, he does just the opposite.
Over the past few weeks, Fields has made it very clear that he is not ready for his career at Ohio State to close.
Although he easily had one foot out the door this entire full season, Fields has instead taken the lead for college footballers who want to play this coming season.
He was sent a flood of tweets to make his attitude clear, helped lead a press for an association for college footballers hoping to save the season, gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures on a petition for Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren to resume the fall season, and appeared on ESPN Radio to discuss his fight to save the season.
#WeWantToPlay pic.twitter.com/NgKG9Nab9c
– Justin Fields (@justnfields) August 10, 2020
And his intentions are not selfish. If the football season is canceled, Fields – a guaranteed millionaire – will just be fine. He knows that. But he also fights for the players needed this season, the guys who worked hard and injured to have one last shot – guys like Jonathon Cooper, Justin Hilliard or Trey Sermon.
“The guys who are back in their fifth year are recovering from an injury, I think we owe it to those guys the most,” Fields said. ‘I’ve just seen all the work they’ve put behind the scenes and how much they really care, and I also believe that all the coaches and all the parents of the players want us to play, and they’re safe with the guidelines too. which Ohio State has instituted. ”
All that fighting of a player whose footballing comeback is already secured.
There is too much work put in !! #WeWantToPlay
– Justin Fields (@justnfields) August 10, 2020
But even for Fields personally, the season is about more than money, and more than his NFL draft stock. He made that clear when he told the media that he never even considered making the choice for the fall college football season.
“I feel like people really have different situations about whether they should quit,” Fields said in early August, before the Big Ten was postponed. ‘Families of some people may not be as financially stable as others, but I grew up as a child, I have always been a competitor. I always just loved playing football. Growing up with my family, I never really needed anything. I think my family has provided me with everything I need. Getting to the money as quickly as possible is not a priority for me. ”
In Fields’ eyes, this college football season was not just another required step toward the NFL as a possible payday, it was an opportunity to end some unfinished business. It was a chance to win a Heisman Trophy, a chance to win a national championship, a chance to “defeat the brakes” of Michigan, once more.
That’s the reason why when he called his father, Pablo, to tell him the news that the Big Ten season was being postponed, there was unmistakable sadness in his voice.
“My son is always optimistic and positive, but in our conversation that day he was heartbroken,” Pablo said. SI.com. ‘I don’t think he’s done as a college footballer. We are not rich in any way, but he is in no hurry to get the dollars. He loves Ohio State University and loves his teammates, and he has some unfinished business that he would love to complete. ”
But the unfortunate truth is, no matter how hard he fights, he just can not get the chance to handle that unfinished business.
It is highly unlikely that the Big Ten course will reverse and reschedule the fall season at this point, and a spring season will likely be a shell of a season that would bring a lot of practical and logistical concerns to an NFL draft prospect.
Want it more than ever … pic.twitter.com/Hx9C7sMJPl
– Justin Fields (@justnfields) August 14, 2020
The league apparently has a plan to adjust their league calendar to combine them and move concept to meet a spring season for football university, but even if that happens, it may still not make sense for a high first-round pick to to play and risk an injury. Plus, this is all assumed that a spring season is at least possible, which is far from a given.
Fields and his father both insist he is not in a hurry to get that NFL salary, but the reality is that a life-changing amount of money is on the horizon, and it would be very difficult to do right what he could. put in danger.
For that reason, there’s a very, very real chance that Justin Fields played his last game in a Buckeye uniform. It’s not the way he wanted to end his college career as the way Ohio State fans wanted to send out the player who might be the best quarterback in program history, but it could be the harsh reality.
But that will not stop Fields from fighting. And if this is how his Buckeye career comes to an end, then this is how he should be remembered – as a fighter. He would have to be remembered as a player who fought like hell for his teammates, for the fans, and for the future of college football, to the very end.
When he goes out, he will go out swinging. And while that may not be the same as a national title, a Heisman Trophy or a 100-spot on Michigan, it’s still a damn fine legacy to leave.
