If they caved and awarded it for lower ranks, I just wouldn't give anything to Bronze ranks. There's almost no effort at all required to achieve it it. Anyone who never even uses Recuperate or deals only a fraction of the 2nd-lowest player every match they're in shouldn't be rewarded. Not even after multiple seasons.

Rewarding that rank does nothing to incentivize players to keep playing when you can achieve it in under an hour and then quit.