Royce needed to go pro

Football is big business. College football is just as big businesses as the NFL only on the professional level, players get a paycheck.

Louisiana State University’s Leonard Fournette and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey, both junior running backs, made business decisions recently to skip their team’s bowl games to avoid injury and prepare themselves for the NFL draft. It was widely known both would be forgoing their senior seasons and declaring for the draft.

Since neither LSU nor Stanford were in the running for the national championship, both made business decisions to skip their meaningless bowl games. Fournette turning down the Citrus Bowl in Orlando and McCaffrey skipping the Sun Bowl in El Paso.

Imperial’s Royce Freeman, a junior running back at the University of Oregon, made a decision last week that he would return to college for his senior season. Not a wise business decision.

Freeman has racked up 4,146 rushing yards and 44 rushing touchdowns in three years in Oregon. He is the school’s second all-time leading rusher and second all-time in rushing touchdowns.

NFL scouts have said he is about the seventh best running back that would be coming out of college this year and with his size, footwork and vision could be either a late firstround or second-round NFL selection.

CBSSports.com said that Freeman was certainly “in the first-round conversation.” With his size, durability and sure-handedness, Freeman was going to make a good impression at the NFL combine and the University of Oregon “pro day” which draws NFL scouts to the campus.

A first-round NFL pick makes big money. And if Freeman was going to be selected late in the first round or even midway through the second round he would likely be selected by a winning team. Imagine Freeman landing with a perennial winner like the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers or Green Bay Packers?

What Freeman needs is an offensive line. It’s something he didn’t have at Oregon last season which led to him only gaining 945 yards and getting injured early in the season against Nebraska.

The offensive line isn’t going to get miraculously better at Oregon in one season. The Ducks aren’t going to compete for a national championship and as much as I’d like to see it, a Heisman Trophy isn’t in Freeman’s future if his team is just mediocre.

I’ve seen the quotes from Freeman saying that he spoke with his family and getting an education was the reason he selected Oregon. But he can finish his education there any time. He can’t be drafted into the NFL any time.

The career of a running back is limited. There are only so many hits a person’s body can take. He’s already taken three years worth of hits at Oregon leaving him with maybe five to seven years left. Those years need to be in the NFL, not back at a school where he doesn’t earn a paycheck.

Getting an education is a priority. I applaud him for wanting to finish his education, but he needs to look at football like Fournette and McCaffrey do, as a business.

Good luck to Freeman in his senior year at Oregon. Here’s hoping his offensive line holds up and he can stay injury-free.