Players, President weigh in on the uncertain future of major college football
The players want to play. Or at least some of college football’s stars, such as Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, do.
Plenty of teams want to play, too. Just ask Nebraska, which wants to find some way to play games this fall even if the Conrhuskers’ conference doesn’t play a fall season.
When it came to college football’s immediate future Monday, everybody seemed to have an opinion — even President Trump.
But by late afternoon, nothing had changed about the 2020 season. Not officially, anyway. No conference had opted out, although it may just be a matter of time before some do.
Earlier Monday, Dan Patrick, who hosts a national sports talk-radio show, said sources told him the Big Ten and Pac-12 would shut down for the fall because of safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Later, the Detroit Free-Press, citing a source of its own, reported the Big Ten had made the decision to postpone its autumn football season until spring 2021.
Thus, the outlook seemed dim for a college football season featuring all Power Five conferences this fall. Conference-wide meetings early this week should spell out the sport’s direction.
In the meantime, Nebraska coach Scott Frost said his team wants to play a full schedule, no matter the conference affiliation.
“We’re a proud member of the Big Ten,” Frost said during a Zoom teleconference with reporters. “We want to play a Big Ten schedule. I think the only reason we would look at any other options is if for some reason the Big Ten wasn’t playing and only a handful of teams from the Big Ten wanted to continue playing. I think, if that’s the case, I think we’re prepared to look at any and all options.”
Could a college football season happen without all major conferences participating? The only similar disruptions in seasons occurred during World War I and the influenza pandemic in 1918, and in the early 1940s when some programs suspended operations during World War II.
But there has never been a moment quite like this, with entire conferences considering shutting down. Then again, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted sports in profound ways.
The NCAA Tournament — March Madness — never happened this spring. Neither did Wimbledon. But other sports and events have forged ahead after month-long delays. The NBA, WNBA, NHL, Major League Soccer and National Women’s Soccer League have operated in isolation with health and safety measures in place.
Major League Baseball has had its difficulties but is also continuing. The NFL has scrapped its preseason games, but teams are currently conducting their respective training camps and the league is planning to play a full regular season.
Fall sports on college campuses are having second thoughts. Already, NCAA Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior colleges have scrapped nearly all autumn competitions.
Until recently, major college football was proceeding as planned. Athletes have been on most campuses since June. After some initial flare-ups of COVID-19 cases, programs were pointing toward September openings.
But the pandemic’s trends this summer haven’t been good, and schools have started to react. Connecticut, which operates as an independent in football, last week became the first school to announce it was shutting down for the 2020 football season. The Mountain West Conference and Old Dominion followed the same path Monday.
The 12-member Mountain West includes Boise State, Colorado State and Air Force. The league said in a statement it will explore holding fall sports in the spring.
On Saturday, Mid-American Conference said it wouldn’t play football this fall, bring to 26 the number of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs that won’t play football this fall.
The Power Five conferences slimmed down their schedules, eliminating all non-conference games, or all but one. Over the weekend, social media was filled with speculation about the Big Ten and Pac-12 shuttering, which prompted responses from players, administrators and politicians.
Lawrence and Fields were among the the most prominent college football players who took to social media Sunday to declare their desire to a have a 2020 season, using the hashtag #WeWantToPlay. In a Twitter thread, Lawrence suggested players would have more access to testing and medical attention inside a football environment than they would outside of it.
“People are at just as much, if not more risk, if we don’t play,” Lawrence tweeted. “Players will all be sent home to their own communities where social distancing is highly unlikely and medical care and expenses will be placed on the families if they were to contract covid19.
“Not to mention the players coming from situations that are not good for them/their future and having to go back to that. Football is a safe haven for so many people. We are more likely to get the virus in everyday life than playing football.”
President Trump referenced Lawrence’s social media message in a tweet imploring the college football season to continue.
Patience was the message from Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey Monday, who said a decision about the season didn’t have to made immediately.
“Best advice I’ve received since COVID-19: Be patient. Take time when making decisions. This is all new & you’ll gain better information each day,” Sankey tweeted.
The Big 12 board of directors is expected to meet with its medical experts this week to discuss the upcoming season, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Arkansas’ Hunter Yurachek became the first athletic director from a major conference to weigh in on the record. His tweet: “These young men need a season.” It concluded: “Please don’t cancel college football.”
Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram contributed to this report
This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 8:02 AM.