Amid racist tweets and COVID-19 risks, K-State football players help spark a movement
College athletes can change America if they want.
In every state, athletes are telling coaches, boosters, administrators, media, other students — anyone who will listen — that they no longer intend to just shut up and play.
At Oklahoma State, the University of Texas, Missouri, Florida State, Iowa, Mississippi State and now Kansas State, players are claiming their full rights as Americans to speak, to march, to challenge their world.
“Leadership comes in all sizes,” Missouri football player Martez Manuel told The Star. “We’re football players second, and we’re people first.”
Some have suggested they’ll boycott games if campus issues go unaddressed. Kansas State football players said they would not “play, practice or meet” unless the university took action against student Jaden McNeil, who tweeted, “Congratulations to George Floyd on being drug free for an entire month!”
That got everyone’s attention.
“These players are doing a great job using the leverage that they have,” said Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association.
Much of this involves the Black Lives Matter movement, the murder of George Floyd and the ham-handed response of some coaches and administrators to their players’ grievances. For now, that’s where the spotlight shines.
But it’s a mistake to think students will or should calm down once the cameras move on. There is much more to do.
▪ COVID-19: Athletes are demanding protocols to protect their health and safety. At UCLA, football players have threatened to boycott promotional appearances unless the school offers additional protection against coronavirus.
Asking players — particularly uncompensated football and basketball players — to practice and play during a pandemic for fans’ amusement is beyond obscene. The risk is too high. The coronavirus already has ripped through college locker rooms across the country, including K-State’s.
No one should be required to play or risk losing a scholarship under such conditions.
▪ Health and training: In December, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, released a study about the training and health care provided to college athletes.
“Athletes … find themselves in a system that regularly treats them like commodities,” the study found. “Those who have complete control over athletes’ lives can push them beyond their limits, put their health at risk in order to win games, and ignore what’s good for their long-term health.”
Athletes are rightly demanding outside reviews of their health concerns and commitments to continue their scholarships if they’re hurt while playing. They’re worthwhile goals.
So is player safety. Braeden Bradforth died from the heat on his first day of football practice at Garden City Community College.
▪ Compensation: College players in revenue sports are demanding more of the billions of dollars they generate. The NCAA has been dragged kicking and screaming into this discussion and is still resisting appropriate compensation for athletes who pay their salaries.
Arcane rules, unfair procedures, and general dim-wittedness compound the problem. Unpaid students will want to ask why they’re punished for eating a sandwich while administrators earn millions from athletes’ labor. It’s always a good question.
▪ Racism: Name one African American head football coach at a major American university.
Bonus points if you said Herm Edwards, the head coach at Arizona State and a former Chiefs head coach. “Are we still a little bit behind the times, as far as the practices of hiring and opportunity?” he said in a December interview with the website fivethirtyeight.com. “Yeah.”
More than half of major college football players are Black. Just 10% of head coaches are.
It takes enormous courage for athletes, many from disadvantaged families, to risk their careers and futures by calling out these and other problems. For decades, coaches and administrators have relied on student turnover, and absolute power, to keep athletes in line.
Social media and smart athletes have turned that formula on its head. There is strength in numbers and power in Twitter and Instagram. ‘The players have always had this leverage,” Huma said. “But they haven’t always overcome their fear of retaliation.”
Changing the world won’t be easy, of course. K-State has refused to expel the student author of the racist tweet, citing the First Amendment. That tool is available to students who are athletes, too, and the next step is theirs.
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
