‘Football’s changed’: Ron DeSantis complains about college bowl opt-outs

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 8/11/20-Gov. Ron DeSantis, center, speaks during a news conference on resuming collegiate sports with Florida State University President John Thrasher, left, and FSU Football Coach Mike Norvell at the FSU indoor practice field, Tuesday in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

Ron DeSantis is speaking out about college football players who don’t participate in bowl games, questioning if they’re doing the “right thing.”

The 2024 presidential candidate said “something” needed to be done about those student athletes who choose to opt out in the wake of an in-state team’s disappointing performance during a recent game.

“Football’s changed where you have, like, you get paid for name, image and likeness and stuff, which we supported in Florida. If people are going to make money off you, like, whatever. But now it’s like, they sit out the bowl games and they do all this other stuff and a lot of Florida State’s players didn’t even play. We’ve got to do something about that. I don’t know if that’s the right thing,” DeSantis said in Waukee, Iowa.

The Governor hadn’t commented on Florida State’s 63-3 loss during the Orange Bowl previously, but in Waukee he noted that the Atlantic Coast Conference champs “didn’t fare too well” against Georgia.

DeSantis enthused about the Seminoles for much of the 2023 season, championing the team’s cause after it didn’t make the cut for the four-term College Football Playoff last month.

DeSantis has already pledged $1 million from the new state budget to sue the College Football Playoff committee, assuming that grounds for a legal challenge actually exist.

“If you think about the damages, being in that College Football Playoff versus being in the Orange Bowl is a big, big difference,” DeSantis said in Iowa last week.

Attorney General Ashley Moody is setting the stage for legal action. Her Civil Investigation Demand to the CFB Playoff committee seeks a voluminous amount of information about the selection process, including “communications relating to deliberations to or from the SEC, ACC, NCAA, ESPN, Group of Five conferences, Power Five conferences or any other person relating to the deliberations.”

Additionally, Moody’s Office wants “all documents relating to public statements relating to the deliberations, including media talking points and interview notes,” and documents “relating to restrictions of the Conferences against having alternate playoff schedules” along with documents “showing compensation of members in 2023.”