FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas running backs coach Tim Horton will never forget one item at the bottom of his goodie bag during the 1987 Liberty Bowl.
It stuck out to the former Arkansas wide receiver. He thought it was a little odd. On top of the some of the usual bowl gifts - items like sweatshirts, jackets, jerseys, shirts and hats - Horton said he and his teammates received Liberty Bowl paperweights.
“They’ve come a long way,” Horton said, thinking about what Arkansas’ players are getting as part of their Liberty Bowl gift packages. “They have definitely upgraded the gifts since I was playing.”
Christmas is known as a time for giving, and it’s clear bowl games have been pretty generous to college football players since Horton’s playing days. Now, they play the role of Santa Claus by loading players’ stockings with an impressive stash of gifts like televisions, iPods, camcorders and gaming systems.
It’s a far cry from a paperweight, but it all falls within NCAA rules. Bowls are permitted to hand out up to $500 worth of merchandise to players participating in their games. And schools are allowed to dig into their budgets to add an additional $350 worth of swag.
Both parties have made sure players are well-compensated for their eff orts at the end of each season. And the players enjoy reaping the rewards.
“When the price is right - when it’s free - I’ll take it,” Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette said last week. “I’m always up for free merchandise.”
Arkansas’ roster has been showered with some pretty impressive gifts the past several years.
For example, the Razorbacks were given Xbox 360s when they played in the 2007Capital One Bowl. The Cotton Bowl passed out iPods a year later.
This season, the big gift handed out by the Liberty Bowl is a 19-inch high-definition television screen. It’s part of a package that will also include Nike shoes, sandals and sunglasses, a commemorative game ball, and the bowl’s tradition gift - a watch.
Steve Ehrhart, the executive director of the Liberty Bowl, joked that the mass dispersal of impressive gifts is part of an arms race between bowls. He believes the Liberty Bowl’s gifts are top-notch.
“Lately, we’ve tried to move to one electronic type of gift a year,” Ehrhart said last week. “This year it’s the TV. Last year we did little iPods.
“We’re always trying to get ideas.”
Comparing bowls was made a little easier thanks to a report by the Sports Business Journal, which put together an extensive list of gifts this month.
A few noteworthy examples: Alabama and Texas will have access to a “gift suite,” which is private event where players are allowed to select gifts. Suites also are also set for the Orange, Fiesta and Sugar bowls.
The GMAC Bowl is handing out RCA HD mini-camcorders. Capital One Bowl participants are being treated to a party at Best Buy, allowing players to select as much as $420 worth of merchandise. The Alamo Bowl is giving away a 32-gig iPod Touch to each player.
The list has former Arkansas great Tony Cherico, who now is an assistant coach at Bentonville High, a little envious even though he believes the players deserve the rewards. Cherico said most of the bowl gifts he received when he played for the Razorbacks were jerseys, T-shirts, sweatsuits and watches.
“A lot of my athletes who go on to play at different colleges, I talk to them about bowl games and they tell me what they get and I’m just going, ‘Oh my Lord,’” Chericosaid. “To us back then, those things we got were great. If I had known back then what these kids were getting, now I would’ve been mad.”
Several Arkansas players said they don’t simply hoard the items they receive, though. Many send bowl gifts home as Christmas gifts for family members.
Junior cornerback Ramon Broadway said he falls in that group. Broadway said he has 12 nieces and nephews and tries to help his family by passing along some of the free bowl items. Broadway said he isn’t alone.
“I think a lot of these guys give a lot of their stuff away,” Broadway said. “You go over to their house and you don’t see any of it. So most of it issitting back home. I know a couple of guys that are actually getting ready to mail stuff off now.”
Broadway said he’s just grateful the Razorbacks are back in a bowl game after missing out on the postseason last year. One thing that may go unnoticed in a team failing to become bowl eligible is the amount of money in bowl gifts that it forfeits, too.
“Last year, you could not imagine,” Broadway said. “A lot of the guys have children and a lot of guys have families who are struggling through rough times. When you don’t get those bowl gifts and you don’t get those couple dollars that the bowl gives you, it’s hard man.
“Last year I rememberin December I was saying, ‘We’ve got to make a bowl next year.’”
So coaches may say becoming bowl eligible is important because of the extra practices.
And competitors might talk about the chance to step on the fi eld one fi nal time to end the season right.
But there’s also another important, underlying incentive for playing in a bowl - getting nice gifts.
“I’m for it,” said Horton, who jokingly wondered if he could get ahold of one of the televisions the Liberty Bowl is handing out to Arkansas’ players next week. “These players generate a lot of money and they deserve it. I hope they get all they can.”
Sports, Pages 10 on 12/25/2009