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The Loop
Buckle up, here come the rumors that Trevor Lawrence will sit out next season
Icon Sportswire
There are miles left to go in the 2019 college football season. 40 bowl games, five weeks, and some untold number of heartbreaking bad beats still remain. It's way, WAY too early to be talking about next year when the most exciting part of this year hasn't even happened, and yet, thanks to the clickbait scruples-vacuum that is The Paul Finebaum Show, the worst rumor of them is already, inevitably here: Trevor Lawrence, the Clemson phenom who took the College Football Playoff by the scruff of its neck last year and held it up like an adorable little puppy, could very well skip the ENTIRE 2020 season before his professional eligibility kicks in. Folks, bundle up. It's going to be a longggggg winter.
It will be another two-and-a-half weeks before Lawrence even returns to the field to complete his true sophomore season, and football fans can't even sit back and watch the best QB prospect in the modern history of college football play, you guessed it, college football. There is something seriously, seriously wrong this species.
But while we object to the rampant, unsubstantiated rumor mill firing up this early, sports marketing guru and MELT CEO Vince Thompson might be on to something here. In the post post Tua-hip-injury world, it's not hard to imagine Lawrence Trevor's team warming to the business decision instead of the football one. And if he wins a second consecutive national championship this year, you may as well kiss his luscious golden locks goodbye.
The precedent for such a leap isn't exactly great, though. Maurice Clarett, the best running back since Barry Sanders, who sat out after winning a national championship his rookie year, flamed out spectacularly, while Jadeveon Clowney took several years to get back up to speed after playing his final season in economy mode. Can Lawrence flip that script? Thompson, who also notes that Lawrence could begin cashing in on likeness and endorsement deals once freed from NCAA yolks, seems to think so.
So will we see Trevor Lawrence on a college football field next season? No one knows! Not even Lawrence and certainly not some B-block guest on a non-gameweek episode of The Paul Finebaum Show. But please, for the love everything holy, can we finish this year before worrying about the next?