Professionals miss games that "don't matter" all the time in every league all the time. We can look at today and next week in the NFL as example. In the playoffs or eliminated from the playoffs some guys won't play week 17 or week 18. And not all due to injury. So if they're professionals like you said and certainly not getting paid as much as their NFL counterparts why shouldn't they sit out? Other than it hurts our sensibilities as fans.
Frankly this is playing the result anyway. Jacolby George only played a half and no one seems to care. If Emory was better or if they simply ran the ball 4 times when it was first and goal instead of settling for the FG to make 41-35. This is likely a win and not a story.