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Dan Murphy, ESPN editor
Some of college football’s biggest stars believe now is the time to organize and give a more powerful voice to their sport’s players.
Over the course of a few hours Sunday evening, more than a dozen college football players from all five major conferences came together to create a joint statement expressing their desire to play the 2020 season and sharing the points they believe need to be addressed to ensure a safe environment and a fair environment for student-athletes in the future. This unprecedented national push for unity comes as a tumultuous week in college sports turns into one that threatens to bring bigger changes.
In a statement posted to social media just before midnight ET Sunday and shared by dozens of college players, the group called for uniform health and safety protocols to address the coronavirus pandemic and outlined its intention to form a association of college football players in the country. future. The release also said players should be given the opportunity to opt out of the upcoming football season and should be guaranteed another year of eligibility whether they play this season or not.
#WeWantToPlay pic.twitter.com/jvQhE7noGB
– Trevor Lawrence (@Trevorlawrencee) August 10, 2020
“The beautiful thing is now we’re all on the same page,” the Stanford defensive lineman said. Dylan Boles, one of the actors who organized Sunday’s message. “We made history tonight.”
Boles said he received a direct message on Twitter Sunday at 5:30 p.m. PT from the Clemson running back. Darien Rencher. The two had never spoken before, but Rencher wanted to discuss the Pac-12 player unity movement that Boles was involved in. Boles is one of the leaders of a group of about 400 Pac-12 players who released a list of demands early last week and said they planned to sit out practices and potentially games if the conference leaders were not willing to meet and speak to them. their concerns. Players from the Big Ten and other conferences later made similar demands, 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 teammate, Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback. Trevor Lawrence — who shared the hashtag #WeWantToPlay over the weekend as college football administrators gathered to debate the merits of a 2020 season. Rencher and others felt fans and commentators unfairly pitted the #WeWantToPlay contingent against each other to the #WeAreUnited group, Boles said. Rencher, Boles and Lawrence chatted briefly on FaceTime before deciding to bring in more players from around the country.
“We started talking and agreed that our two goals were aligned,” Boles said. “We all want to play this year. We just want to make sure the players have a say.”
The players held a Zoom call within an hour that included players from teams from all five major conferences. Players on the call included Lawrence, Boles, Alabama running back Rencher. Najee HarrisOhio State quarterback Justin FieldsOklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbardthat of Oregon Penei Sewell, Johnny Johnson III, Jevon Holland And Kayvon Thibodeauxthat of Utah Nick FordWashington State Dallas Hobbs and that of Michigan Hunter Reynolds.
Many Pac-12 players were previously connected through the #WeAreUnited group since early July. Reynolds, a junior defensive back for the Wolverines, was in contact with several other players through an organization he founded earlier this summer called College Athlete Unity. He helped organize the Big Ten player movement in recent weeks.
“There was a feeling that this is something innovative and we feel it’s something that should have been done a long time ago,” Reynolds said Sunday evening. “I guess now it’s finally done.”
Boles said the players spoke for a little more than 30 minutes before deciding to post a concise message to share the main takeaways from their conversation. He said they unanimously agreed on the issues mentioned in the statement. He also noted that there was early and universal support for the creation of a players’ association that would give all college athletes – not just football players – a voice in the decision-making process at the future.
Both Reynolds and Boles said their top priority is addressing pandemic concerns as quickly as possible. They said they hoped to open a line of communication with administrators and other college sports officials that would eventually lead to a players’ association similar to the groups that give athletes in professional sports a say in major decisions made by the leagues they play for. .
Boles said he hopes a players association could serve as a gateway to more changes that benefit all college athletes in the future. The next step in that process, the players say, would be a meeting with NCAA and conference leaders.
The players asked Hobbs, a second-year defensive lineman with experience in graphic design, to create a graphic for everyone to share on social media. Shortly before midnight on Sunday, less than four hours after Boles and Rencher first connected, the message was posted.
“Social media is so prevalent right now that unifying players is easier than ever,” Reynolds said. “You can connect with people in seconds, which makes it much easier to exchange ideas, gauge how people in different parts of the country are feeling, and come up with a plan. “
Boles said he believes the pandemic and protests for racial justice this summer have created a situation where more players feel the need to speak out. The Pac-12 group he is a part of once met with league commissioner Larry Scott, Boles said. He said the players were able to voice their concerns but had not resolved any of their disagreements. Boles said Scott and league officials did not commit to another meeting with players and rejected a request to allow players to hire and involve legal representation in the discussion.
Boles said he and other players began organizing their efforts in early July and that Sunday’s rapid development was the “crown jewel” of unity they were trying to achieve.
“It took a while,” Boles said. “It was inevitable. It was just a question of how quickly we would get there. We were racing against time. We all want to play, we just want to do it the right way.”
