https://www.espn.com/college-footba...anize-hold-call-further-unite-issue-statement
Some of the biggest stars in college football believe the time has come to organize and create a more powerful voice for players in their sport.
In a matter of hours Sunday night, more than a dozen college football players from all five major conferences came together to create a joint statement that expressed their desire to play the 2020 season and shared items they feel need to be addressed to ensure a safe and fair environment for student-athletes moving forward. The unprecedented national push for unity comes as one tumultuous week in college sports bleeds into another that threatens to bring more significant change.
In a statement released on social media just before midnight ET on Sunday and shared by dozens of college players, the group asked for uniform health and safety protocols for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and laid out their intentions to form a college football players association in the future. The statement also said players should have the chance to opt out of the upcoming football season and that they should be guaranteed another year of eligibility whether they play this season or not.
"The beautiful thing is now we're all on the same page," said Stanford defensive lineman Dylan Boles, one of the players who organized Sunday's message. "We made history tonight."
Boles said he received a direct message on Twitter at 5:30 p.m. PT Sunday from Clemson running back Darien Rencher. The two had never talked before, but Rencher wanted to discuss the Pac-12 players' unity movement with which Boles was involved. Boles is one of the leaders of a group of roughly 400 players in the Pac-12 who published a list of demands early last week and said they planned to sit out of practice and potentially games if conference officials were unwilling to meet with them and address their concerns. Players from the Big Ten and other conferences made similar demands thereafter, and others showed their support with the hashtag #WeAreUnited on social media throughout the week.
Rencher was one of dozens of college football players -- a list that included his Heisman Trophy-candidate teammate, quarterback Trevor Lawrence -- who shared the hashtag #WeWantToPlay this weekend as college football administrators met to debate the merits of a 2020 season. Rencher and others felt that fans and commenters were unfairly pitting the #WeWantToPlay contingent against the #WeAreUnited group, Boles said. Rencher, Boles and Lawrence talked briefly on FaceTime before deciding to loop in more players from around the country.
Some of the biggest stars in college football believe the time has come to organize and create a more powerful voice for players in their sport.
In a matter of hours Sunday night, more than a dozen college football players from all five major conferences came together to create a joint statement that expressed their desire to play the 2020 season and shared items they feel need to be addressed to ensure a safe and fair environment for student-athletes moving forward. The unprecedented national push for unity comes as one tumultuous week in college sports bleeds into another that threatens to bring more significant change.
In a statement released on social media just before midnight ET on Sunday and shared by dozens of college players, the group asked for uniform health and safety protocols for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and laid out their intentions to form a college football players association in the future. The statement also said players should have the chance to opt out of the upcoming football season and that they should be guaranteed another year of eligibility whether they play this season or not.
"The beautiful thing is now we're all on the same page," said Stanford defensive lineman Dylan Boles, one of the players who organized Sunday's message. "We made history tonight."
Boles said he received a direct message on Twitter at 5:30 p.m. PT Sunday from Clemson running back Darien Rencher. The two had never talked before, but Rencher wanted to discuss the Pac-12 players' unity movement with which Boles was involved. Boles is one of the leaders of a group of roughly 400 players in the Pac-12 who published a list of demands early last week and said they planned to sit out of practice and potentially games if conference officials were unwilling to meet with them and address their concerns. Players from the Big Ten and other conferences made similar demands thereafter, and others showed their support with the hashtag #WeAreUnited on social media throughout the week.
Rencher was one of dozens of college football players -- a list that included his Heisman Trophy-candidate teammate, quarterback Trevor Lawrence -- who shared the hashtag #WeWantToPlay this weekend as college football administrators met to debate the merits of a 2020 season. Rencher and others felt that fans and commenters were unfairly pitting the #WeWantToPlay contingent against the #WeAreUnited group, Boles said. Rencher, Boles and Lawrence talked briefly on FaceTime before deciding to loop in more players from around the country.
