Boston College opts out of bowl game

The Boston College football players, with the support of head coach Jeff Hafley and athletic director Patrick Kraft, on Thursday elected to not participate in a bowl game this season.

The Eagles played 11 games in 12 weeks and finished a challenging schedule 6-5 and 5-5 in the ACC, the most conference wins since 2009. The players have been in isolation since June and, despite bi-weekly testing, had just one positive COVID-19 result in more than 9,000 examinations since the start of training camp — and that came last week.

“Spending time with guys, being around them, I just felt like the mental strain and physical strain was wearing on them and mental health is very important to me,” said Hafley. “Since June 28 our guys went above and beyond and it took more out of them than anybody has any idea and they are worn out.”

All the amenities and extra practices that go with a bowl destination would be eliminated because of coronavirus. The players wanted to spend Christmas break at home with their families. They also didn’t want to risk putting in the time and effort only to have the bowl canceled at the 11th hour.

The upperclassmen on the team had negative bowl experiences in consecutive years. The 2018 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, was canceled in the first quarter by an apocalyptic lightning storm. Last season’s 38-6 loss to Cincinnati in the Birmingham Bowl was delayed two hours by lightning.

“In the past two years we’ve had a bit of a bad taste in our mouths about how these bowl games have gone about,” said senior linebacker Max Richardson. “This year being what it was had the most effect on our decision for this and considering everybody’s feelings, it was a team decision.”