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WSU wide receiver Bobby Ratliff, who would have been a redshirt senior this fall, is apparently a WSU wide receiver no more after announcing via his Instagram account that he's no longer going to play football.
Football has been everything and the only thing to me for the last 14 years. But with God and my family I've decided it was time to move on and start the rest of my life. There's nothing I'll miss more than being around my brothers in the locker room and I appreciate the love and understanding I've received from them. On that note it's still and forever will be Go Cougs ! #gocougs
As far as we know, there were no injury issues with Ratliff, who played in all 13 games last season and caught 27 balls for 243 yards. But he didn't catch a ball in the final three games, and therein could lay the rub: There were depth chart issues ahead for his final year of eligibility.
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Ratliff bounced back and forth between both inside receiver spots, and was listed as the backup behind Rickey Galvin at H on the New Mexico Bowl depth chart. Galvin isn't going anywhere for his senior season, and sophomore-to-be River Cracraft appears to have locked down the Y for the foreseeable future. Kristoff Williams was moved inside to Y with the logjam of talent outside, Brett Bartolone will presumably return from whatever injury issues sidelined him this season, and speedster Robert Lewis, who redshirted last year, will be added to the mix. And, oh by the way, inside receiver prospect Calvin Green already is enrolled.
If you have any clue as to the commitment it takes to be a college football player -- both in terms of time and hard work -- it's no shock that he would decide that it's been an awesome enough ride given he's a) in the midst of his fourth year on campus, b) presumably on track to receive his degree this spring, and c) facing an incredible commitment over the next nine months to potentially see nothing more than special teams snaps in the fall.
Best of luck to Ratliff in whatever he does. A three-star prospect, he committed to the Cougs as a consensus top 100 receiver early in the 2009 season. The Cougs would go 1-11, but Ratliff stuck with his commitment and ended up being a part of WSU returning to the postseason for the first time in a decade.
Pretty awesome way to go out. Go Cougs.
