Writing Prompt: To Play or Not To Play

It's bowl game season for American college football teams.  Teams that have performed well are invited to Bowl Games that are often in far away cities and they get to play teams from other conferences.  It's a chance for teams to burnish their records with one more win, to celebrate seasons of accomplishment, and to experience the best that the host city and corporate sponsors have to offer in terms of food, recreational outings, and other perks.  

Vintage Gator Bowl Game Program - Gator Bowl [Public domain]

However, for some star athletes who are ready to leave college football behind to join the professional ranks of the National Football League (NFL), bowl games pose a dilemma.  Some of them opt not to play in the Bowl Game in order to avoid injury and start training for the NFL draft.  These star athletes have to decide whether or not they want to play in the bowl game or not.  Playing provides them with one more chance to polish their highlight reels and impress the pro scouts.  It also gives them the opportunity to close out the season with their team and finish what they started.  But, if they get a debilitating injury, they may miss their chance to play in the NFL entirely and they may miss out on the millions of dollars that playing in the NFL may bring them and their families.  Still, it must be hard to let your team down.  It's a tough call.

For today's writing prompt, write a short piece of fiction about an athlete who must answer the question -

To Play or Not to Play? 

For a special challenge to writers who spend entirely too much time in front of the computer, get a ball, go outside, and play.  (Safety tip:   Just toss the ball around or play two-hand touch football.)