Rush Reimer in the Portal

[Common Cat]

Quitter.

Whomst are we talking about? Your ability to be a rational adult perhaps?

Reimer. He quit. That’s a rational thought.

So would you call Rohan Jones a quitter too? What about Treyton Pickering? Bryce Sterk? Sean Chambers? Lost the starting job so he quit his team, right?

I see your thought. Both can be true at the same time. Cats have certainly benefited from guys transferring and I’ve loved them. I can still be upset at Rush because yes, he quit the team and his unit.

So would you call all of those guys quitters? It’s a simple question.

Sure - they quit in your dichotomous statement.

How do you think they’re different? Genuinely curious. What’s different about Reimer and Jones here?

Easy- Rush quit on the Cats. I was emotionally invested in him as a fan and it upsets me. That’s what makes me a fan. Call me irrational all you want. It feels terrible to lose Rush. He quit a team I love so much. That is emotional to me. I’m not going to praise his decision and tweet best of luck. I don’t feel that. I won’t hold a grudge but just like Ifanse it taints his legacy.

I really don't understand how Ifanse's legacy is tarnished after giving the MSU football team FIVE years, put the team on his back on endless runs, sacrificed his body by playing hurt, holds the school rushing record, and graduated from MSU. Agree to disagree on that one as the extra year was the only thing that made his legacy a debatable topic.

Rush is a tough one because he's still developing and we don't get to see his best on our favorite team. Its hard to just say goodbye to that. We developed him but won't reap the rewards of the finished product.

Don’t put words into my mouth, Vim! Tarnished and taint are not the same

[Common Cat]

Quitter.

Whomst are we talking about? Your ability to be a rational adult perhaps?

Reimer. He quit. That’s a rational thought.

So would you call Rohan Jones a quitter too? What about Treyton Pickering? Bryce Sterk? Sean Chambers? Lost the starting job so he quit his team, right?

I see your thought. Both can be true at the same time. Cats have certainly benefited from guys transferring and I’ve loved them. I can still be upset at Rush because yes, he quit the team and his unit.

So would you call all of those guys quitters? It’s a simple question.

Sure - they quit in your dichotomous statement.

How do you think they’re different? Genuinely curious. What’s different about Reimer and Jones here?

Easy- Rush quit on the Cats. I was emotionally invested in him as a fan and it upsets me. That’s what makes me a fan. Call me irrational all you want. It feels terrible to lose Rush. He quit a team I love so much. That is emotional to me. I’m not going to praise his decision and tweet best of luck. I don’t feel that. I won’t hold a grudge but just like Ifanse it taints his legacy.

I don’t like the players leaving either, but at the end of the day it’s just a game and it’s their lives, not mine.

I just think attacking players, or former players, for having the audacity to not want to finish at MSU is childish. We’re adults. Some of us grown men. I think we can do better.

I didn’t attack him- don’t put that at me. I’m not tweeting at him. This is a fan forum. Altruism isn’t a flag waived in fan forums.

[VimSince03]

Whomst are we talking about? Your ability to be a rational adult perhaps?

Reimer. He quit. That’s a rational thought.

So would you call Rohan Jones a quitter too? What about Treyton Pickering? Bryce Sterk? Sean Chambers? Lost the starting job so he quit his team, right?

I see your thought. Both can be true at the same time. Cats have certainly benefited from guys transferring and I’ve loved them. I can still be upset at Rush because yes, he quit the team and his unit.

So would you call all of those guys quitters? It’s a simple question.

Sure - they quit in your dichotomous statement.

How do you think they’re different? Genuinely curious. What’s different about Reimer and Jones here?

Easy- Rush quit on the Cats. I was emotionally invested in him as a fan and it upsets me. That’s what makes me a fan. Call me irrational all you want. It feels terrible to lose Rush. He quit a team I love so much. That is emotional to me. I’m not going to praise his decision and tweet best of luck. I don’t feel that. I won’t hold a grudge but just like Ifanse it taints his legacy.

I really don't understand how Ifanse's legacy is tarnished after giving the MSU football team FIVE years, put the team on his back on endless runs, sacrificed his body by playing hurt, holds the school rushing record, and graduated from MSU. Agree to disagree on that one as the extra year was the only thing that made his legacy a debatable topic.

Rush is a tough one because he's still developing and we don't get to see his best on our favorite team. Its hard to just say goodbye to that. We developed him but won't reap the rewards of the finished product.

Don’t put words into my mouth, Vim! Tarnished and taint are not the same

Sorry good catch. Still blowing off steam on fans reactions to Isiaha leaving. I'm ready to say goodbye to the extra COVID year in 2025 let's just put it that way.

[LTown Cat]

Rush is technically a grad transfer. It makes a difference to me if they've actually graduated from MSU.

Same--I feel like he fulfilled his commitment at that point.

[WalkOn79]

We've thought and discussed this pretty extensively if we should pursue interviewing these guys....at the end of the day, the likelihood of getting anything more than "I loved my time at MSU, I loved my teammates and it was just time for a change" is probably very, very low. No one would ever say they were leaving because they thought it was the wrong fit, didn't like their coaches etc. The chances of them saying, "I'm leaving to get the bag" are also slim to none. And the chances of them saying how much they have been offered in NIL money, if that is a or the motivating factor, is also negligible.

Personally, if players were to scrap the "I love everyone....with that being said, I'm leaving you behind" love letters they all posted on twitter and they simply said, "I have confidence in how I've developed as a player and I want to test myself at the highest level" or "the amount of money I'm receiving is positively impacting my family and I couldn't turn it down", it would seem much less disingenuous.

But there's a culture here. It's omnipresent. There's a formula. It's why every "I'm entering the portal" announcement is exactly the same. The formula helps deflect revealing the real truths, skirts accountability and further perpetuates this world of constant enabling.

All that said, if your motivation is to test yourself at the highest level possible as an athlete, which I think is one of the primary motivations of most of the FCS players that are pursuing FBS opportunities in the portal, that's just fine with me. I just wish they would say "I'm getting on myself" and leave the rest out of it.

Great post. Just for fun, I told ChatGPT to compose a portal tweet. Here’s what it gave me….emojis and all. Haha

"Montana State, thank you for an amazing journey! After much reflection, I've decided to enter the transfer portal, ready for new challenges. Excited to see where this next chapter takes me with three years of eligibility left. Your support means the world! #NewBeginnings #TransferPortal #Grateful"

Wow, that one is better than most!

[BelligerentBobcat]

I have a working theory that good OL are better off staying at a lower level. Trevor Penning would be my lead example. He dominated at Northern Iowa. Got drafted real high. Has objectively sucked in the league. If he had gone to, say Michigan, he’s not going to look as good and not going to get drafted as high.

Obviously not all situations are equal, and there’s a lot else at play here, but strictly when it comes to getting drafted I don’t think lineman are better off moving up from a place they’re dominating.

[91catAlum]

I'm surprised Rush didn't end up in Reno. I guess Cal pays better.

[CelticCat]

At the end of the day, if you made the decision to leave Montana State to continue your career somewhere else, you have changed the optics. Some will say no way, but there are going to be people who feel that way, I'm one of them. The players have every right and I'm glad they have the option to do so, but that isn't much comfort to die-hard Montana State fans when half your OL leaves to secure a bag somewhere else. We as MSU fans have no obligation to wish them luck or congratulations. I do like to say thanks for everything you did at Montana State, because they bled for this program, for us fans and I recognize that. But I don't have to wish you luck after you decided to leave the program. And yes an all-time great using his last year of eligiblity somewhere else does diminish the reputation a bit. Can you imagine if Lulay would have grad transferred to Oregon State?

[91catAlum]

At the end of the day, if you made the decision to leave Montana State to continue your career somewhere else, you have changed the optics. Some will say no way, but there are going to be people who feel that way, I'm one of them. The players have every right and I'm glad they have the option to do so, but that isn't much comfort to die-hard Montana State fans when half your OL leaves to secure a bag somewhere else. We as MSU fans have no obligation to wish them luck or congratulations. I do like to say thanks for everything you did at Montana State, because they bled for this program, for us fans and I recognize that. But I don't have to wish you luck after you decided to leave the program. And yes an all-time great using his last year of eligiblity somewhere else does diminish the reputation a bit. Can you imagine if Lulay would have grad transferred to Oregon State?

[LTown Cat]

At the end of the day, if you made the decision to leave Montana State to continue your career somewhere else, you have changed the optics. Some will say no way, but there are going to be people who feel that way, I'm one of them. The players have every right and I'm glad they have the option to do so, but that isn't much comfort to die-hard Montana State fans when half your OL leaves to secure a bag somewhere else. We as MSU fans have no obligation to wish them luck or congratulations. I do like to say thanks for everything you did at Montana State, because they bled for this program, for us fans and I recognize that. But I don't have to wish you luck after you decided to leave the program. And yes an all-time great using his last year of eligiblity somewhere else does diminish the reputation a bit. Can you imagine if Lulay would have grad transferred to Oregon State?

Well said

[VimSince03]

At the end of the day, if you made the decision to leave Montana State to continue your career somewhere else, you have changed the optics. Some will say no way, but there are going to be people who feel that way, I'm one of them. The players have every right and I'm glad they have the option to do so, but that isn't much comfort to die-hard Montana State fans when half your OL leaves to secure a bag somewhere else. We as MSU fans have no obligation to wish them luck or congratulations. I do like to say thanks for everything you did at Montana State, because they bled for this program, for us fans and I recognize that. But I don't have to wish you luck after you decided to leave the program. And yes an all-time great using his last year of eligiblity somewhere else does diminish the reputation a bit. Can you imagine if Lulay would have grad transferred to Oregon State?

Well said

Did Travis Lulay have 6 years to play college football and have NIL money dangled in front of him?

[MSU01]

At the end of the day, if you made the decision to leave Montana State to continue your career somewhere else, you have changed the optics. Some will say no way, but there are going to be people who feel that way, I'm one of them. The players have every right and I'm glad they have the option to do so, but that isn't much comfort to die-hard Montana State fans when half your OL leaves to secure a bag somewhere else. We as MSU fans have no obligation to wish them luck or congratulations. I do like to say thanks for everything you did at Montana State, because they bled for this program, for us fans and I recognize that. But I don't have to wish you luck after you decided to leave the program. And yes an all-time great using his last year of eligiblity somewhere else does diminish the reputation a bit. Can you imagine if Lulay would have grad transferred to Oregon State?

I can't imagine that, mainly because Lulay didn't get a free year of eligibility due to a once-in-a-century global pandemic. Things are crazy right now, personally I will never ever think less of a player who makes his own life decision to move on from MSU after having received the degree he came here to get in the first place.

[91catAlum]

At the end of the day, if you made the decision to leave Montana State to continue your career somewhere else, you have changed the optics. Some will say no way, but there are going to be people who feel that way, I'm one of them. The players have every right and I'm glad they have the option to do so, but that isn't much comfort to die-hard Montana State fans when half your OL leaves to secure a bag somewhere else. We as MSU fans have no obligation to wish them luck or congratulations. I do like to say thanks for everything you did at Montana State, because they bled for this program, for us fans and I recognize that. But I don't have to wish you luck after you decided to leave the program. And yes an all-time great using his last year of eligiblity somewhere else does diminish the reputation a bit. Can you imagine if Lulay would have grad transferred to Oregon State?

I can't imagine that, mainly because Lulay didn't get a free year of eligibility due to a once-in-a-century global pandemic. Things are crazy right now, personally I will never ever think less of a player who makes his own life decision to move on from MSU after having received the degree he came here to get in the first place.

Since MSU didn't play any football games in 2020, nobody got an extra year of eligibility. It's basically an extra redshirt year. Instead of the usual 5 years to play 4, they got 6 years to play 4. But everybody on MSU’s team is still just playing 4.

[MSU01]

At the end of the day, if you made the decision to leave Montana State to continue your career somewhere else, you have changed the optics. Some will say no way, but there are going to be people who feel that way, I'm one of them. The players have every right and I'm glad they have the option to do so, but that isn't much comfort to die-hard Montana State fans when half your OL leaves to secure a bag somewhere else. We as MSU fans have no obligation to wish them luck or congratulations. I do like to say thanks for everything you did at Montana State, because they bled for this program, for us fans and I recognize that. But I don't have to wish you luck after you decided to leave the program. And yes an all-time great using his last year of eligiblity somewhere else does diminish the reputation a bit. Can you imagine if Lulay would have grad transferred to Oregon State?

I can't imagine that, mainly because Lulay didn't get a free year of eligibility due to a once-in-a-century global pandemic. Things are crazy right now, personally I will never ever think less of a player who makes his own life decision to move on from MSU after having received the degree he came here to get in the first place.

Since MSU didn't play any football games in 2020, nobody got an extra year of eligibility. It's basically an extra redshirt year. Instead of the usual 5 years to play 4, they got 6 years to play 4. But everybody on MSU’s team is still just playing 4.

Ok, but the main point is that the Covid year created an unprecedented situation in which thousands of players have been able to reach a natural "change point" in their lives (college graduation) with a year or more of athletic eligibility remaining that they can use to help pay for a graduate degree. We don't expect a non-athlete college student to be loyal to MSU and stick around for a year or two after they've graduated instead of moving into the workforce or to another school for graduate studies, so I don't see why we should expect anything more from the athletes.

[CodyCat]

Good riddance.

He won’t be the last. No need for that.

Do you feel the same way about our new transfer from Maine? He was starting there.

Quitter.

Whomst are we talking about? Your ability to be a rational adult perhaps?

Reimer. He quit. That’s a rational thought.

So would you call Rohan Jones a quitter too? What about Treyton Pickering? Bryce Sterk? Sean Chambers? Lost the starting job so he quit his team, right?

Treyton was a transfer???

[91catAlum]

At the end of the day, if you made the decision to leave Montana State to continue your career somewhere else, you have changed the optics. Some will say no way, but there are going to be people who feel that way, I'm one of them. The players have every right and I'm glad they have the option to do so, but that isn't much comfort to die-hard Montana State fans when half your OL leaves to secure a bag somewhere else. We as MSU fans have no obligation to wish them luck or congratulations. I do like to say thanks for everything you did at Montana State, because they bled for this program, for us fans and I recognize that. But I don't have to wish you luck after you decided to leave the program. And yes an all-time great using his last year of eligiblity somewhere else does diminish the reputation a bit. Can you imagine if Lulay would have grad transferred to Oregon State?

I can't imagine that, mainly because Lulay didn't get a free year of eligibility due to a once-in-a-century global pandemic. Things are crazy right now, personally I will never ever think less of a player who makes his own life decision to move on from MSU after having received the degree he came here to get in the first place.

Since MSU didn't play any football games in 2020, nobody got an extra year of eligibility. It's basically an extra redshirt year. Instead of the usual 5 years to play 4, they got 6 years to play 4. But everybody on MSU’s team is still just playing 4.

Ok, but the main point is that the Covid year created an unprecedented situation in which thousands of players have been able to reach a natural "change point" in their lives (college graduation) with a year or more of athletic eligibility remaining that they can use to help pay for a graduate degree. We don't expect a non-athlete college student to be loyal to MSU and stick around for a year or two after they've graduated instead of moving into the workforce or to another school for graduate studies, so I don't see why we should expect anything more from the athletes.

That analogy makes zero sense to me.
Fans don't have an emotional connection to non athlete students. You don't see 22,000 people driving long distances and paying $50/ ticket to watch a student take a math test.

Like it or not, fans get emotionally connected to the team and to individual players even if they don't know them personally. And this is a critical piece of a successful program. The players and coaches WANT an engaged fanbase. It's what puts butts in the seats and its what causes people to open up their wallets and fund the scholarships, the NIL collective, the facility upgrades, etc.

And when household- name players leave the program early, that emotional connection is affected negatively for many fans. That doesn't mean someone is a bad fan, it's just human nature. It's natural for an emotionally invested fan to want the players to love the team as much as they do, and to be disappointed to some extent when that turns out to not be the case.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Good riddance.

He won’t be the last. No need for that.

Do you feel the same way about our new transfer from Maine? He was starting there.

Quitter.

Whomst are we talking about? Your ability to be a rational adult perhaps?

Reimer. He quit. That’s a rational thought.

So would you call Rohan Jones a quitter too? What about Treyton Pickering? Bryce Sterk? Sean Chambers? Lost the starting job so he quit his team, right?

Treyton was a transfer???

He had committed and signed with Montana Tech. Months later MSU came in and offered him. Because Tech was NAIA the signings aren’t binding like they are for FCS/FBS.

I’m not saying what he did was wrong, but I expect people to be consistent with their messaging too.

[MSU01]

At the end of the day, if you made the decision to leave Montana State to continue your career somewhere else, you have changed the optics. Some will say no way, but there are going to be people who feel that way, I'm one of them. The players have every right and I'm glad they have the option to do so, but that isn't much comfort to die-hard Montana State fans when half your OL leaves to secure a bag somewhere else. We as MSU fans have no obligation to wish them luck or congratulations. I do like to say thanks for everything you did at Montana State, because they bled for this program, for us fans and I recognize that. But I don't have to wish you luck after you decided to leave the program. And yes an all-time great using his last year of eligiblity somewhere else does diminish the reputation a bit. Can you imagine if Lulay would have grad transferred to Oregon State?

I can't imagine that, mainly because Lulay didn't get a free year of eligibility due to a once-in-a-century global pandemic. Things are crazy right now, personally I will never ever think less of a player who makes his own life decision to move on from MSU after having received the degree he came here to get in the first place.

Since MSU didn't play any football games in 2020, nobody got an extra year of eligibility. It's basically an extra redshirt year. Instead of the usual 5 years to play 4, they got 6 years to play 4. But everybody on MSU’s team is still just playing 4.

Ok, but the main point is that the Covid year created an unprecedented situation in which thousands of players have been able to reach a natural "change point" in their lives (college graduation) with a year or more of athletic eligibility remaining that they can use to help pay for a graduate degree. We don't expect a non-athlete college student to be loyal to MSU and stick around for a year or two after they've graduated instead of moving into the workforce or to another school for graduate studies, so I don't see why we should expect anything more from the athletes.

That analogy makes zero sense to me.
Fans don't have an emotional connection to non athlete students. You don't see 22,000 people driving long distances and paying $50/ ticket to watch a student take a math test.

Like it or not, fans get emotionally connected to the team and to individual players even if they don't know them personally. And this is a critical piece of a successful program. The players and coaches WANT an engaged fanbase. It's what puts butts in the seats and its what causes people to open up their wallets and fund the scholarships, the NIL collective, the facility upgrades, etc.

And when household- name players leave the program early, that emotional connection is affected negatively for many fans. That doesn't mean someone is a bad fan, it's just human nature. It's natural for an emotionally invested fan to want the players to love the team as much as they do, and to be disappointed to some extent when that turns out to not be the case.

As a fan, I'm disappointed like anyone else when great players choose to transfer. But to me it's a really bad look to expect a graduated player to put his or her life on hold for a year or two just to satisfy the "emotional investment" of fans. We can be disappointed in a player's decision to leave while also understanding their personal decisions to move on with their lives.

[catscat]

I have no idea if it's a factor or not in the production of "grad transfers, but I wonder if the "stay and practice all summer" isn't allowing earlier graduation by attending classes during the summer. Seems a red shirt and play 3 years could easily result in graduation with a year of eligibility remaining. Maybe even in some cases, play three or red shirt and play 2 could provide graduation with eligibility remaining.

[91catAlum]

At the end of the day, if you made the decision to leave Montana State to continue your career somewhere else, you have changed the optics. Some will say no way, but there are going to be people who feel that way, I'm one of them. The players have every right and I'm glad they have the option to do so, but that isn't much comfort to die-hard Montana State fans when half your OL leaves to secure a bag somewhere else. We as MSU fans have no obligation to wish them luck or congratulations. I do like to say thanks for everything you did at Montana State, because they bled for this program, for us fans and I recognize that. But I don't have to wish you luck after you decided to leave the program. And yes an all-time great using his last year of eligiblity somewhere else does diminish the reputation a bit. Can you imagine if Lulay would have grad transferred to Oregon State?

I can't imagine that, mainly because Lulay didn't get a free year of eligibility due to a once-in-a-century global pandemic. Things are crazy right now, personally I will never ever think less of a player who makes his own life decision to move on from MSU after having received the degree he came here to get in the first place.

Since MSU didn't play any football games in 2020, nobody got an extra year of eligibility. It's basically an extra redshirt year. Instead of the usual 5 years to play 4, they got 6 years to play 4. But everybody on MSU’s team is still just playing 4.

Ok, but the main point is that the Covid year created an unprecedented situation in which thousands of players have been able to reach a natural "change point" in their lives (college graduation) with a year or more of athletic eligibility remaining that they can use to help pay for a graduate degree. We don't expect a non-athlete college student to be loyal to MSU and stick around for a year or two after they've graduated instead of moving into the workforce or to another school for graduate studies, so I don't see why we should expect anything more from the athletes.

That analogy makes zero sense to me.
Fans don't have an emotional connection to non athlete students. You don't see 22,000 people driving long distances and paying $50/ ticket to watch a student take a math test.

Like it or not, fans get emotionally connected to the team and to individual players even if they don't know them personally. And this is a critical piece of a successful program. The players and coaches WANT an engaged fanbase. It's what puts butts in the seats and its what causes people to open up their wallets and fund the scholarships, the NIL collective, the facility upgrades, etc.

And when household- name players leave the program early, that emotional connection is affected negatively for many fans. That doesn't mean someone is a bad fan, it's just human nature. It's natural for an emotionally invested fan to want the players to love the team as much as they do, and to be disappointed to some extent when that turns out to not be the case.

As a fan, I'm disappointed like anyone else when great players choose to transfer. But to me it's a really bad look to expect a graduated player to put his or her life on hold for a year or two just to satisfy the "emotional investment" of fans. We can be disappointed in a player's decision to leave while also understanding their personal decisions to move on with their lives.

Absolutely agree with your last sentence there. Well said.
Most fans do accept a kid choosing to move on with their life when they graduate. Its the transferring to another school to continue playing football that causes the disappointment and tarnishing of their time at MSU in some fan's eyes.

And for me personally, I don't blame the players who are going after the NIL money or the "prestige" of playing for an FBS team. I blame the current system where its just the wild west of FBS teams skirting the rules and throwing big chunks of NIL money to the FCS stars to convince them to enter the portal. There needs to be some basic rules put in place, or at least some enforcement of the existing no-contact rules until a player enters the portal.