| NEWS College football players say they want to play as Big Ten reportedly mulls postponing season - SB Nation

[SEC Sports]

College football players speak out in effort to save the season

Recapping a crazy Saturday for college football media.

www.rollbamaroll.com

What a wacky, drama-filled weekend it has been.

When the MAC canceled the fall football season on Saturday, it sent shockwaves throughout the sport. Several in the national media reported that the Big Ten would likely be next followed by the Pac 12, and by the end of next week the entire college football season would be canceled. At issue is not only the pandemic, but also concerns about the Pac 12 group that is effectively trying to unionize. Postponing until spring would ostensibly allow the powers that be some time to digest all of it.

Last week, more than 1,000 Big Ten players signed onto a letter to conference officials, outlining safety protocols that they would like to see in place to safely play a season in the current climate. Unlike the Pac 12 group’s demands of a revenue split among other non-starters, the Big Ten letter was focused solely on player safety and none of the requests were unreasonable. Yet, on Friday and somewhat out of the blue, Ohio State LB Tuf Borland tweeted a statement from Buckeyes players praising their university administration and seemingly throwing some water on the movement.



While it was great to see that Ohio State’s players felt that their coaches and support staff were serving them well and had their best interests at heart, the timing of this letter seemed curious. Players were practicing and conferences were making schedule plans for their altered seasons. ESPN’s Bomani Jones openly questioned the Buckeye players’ motivation, even going so far as to suggest that the university put them up to it and calling the players boot-lickers.




While Bomani’s rhetoric is a shade over the top here, the question was valid. On Saturday, the likely answer came into focus. The Detroit Free Press reported that Big 10 commissioner Kevin Warren is currently favoring a spring football season, something that an Ohio State team with championship aspirations, led by several players who will be headed to the NFL after the season including QB Justin Fields, wants no part of. As Ross Dellenger and Pat Forde reported for SI, word was starting to get around.

But there is an alternate viewpoint regarding the MAC decision: that it saw which direction Big Ten leaders were contemplating going and simply decided to go there first.
“My theory is they know what the Big Ten is going to do,” said one administrator from a Group of 5 conference. “I think the Pac-12 is ready to go as well and everyone else follows suit.”

If other conference administrators had caught wind of the Big Ten’s preference to bag the fall season, surely some of the players within those programs had as well. The Ohio State players saw that some of their peers, particularly those on the west coast, had overplayed their hands and were about to cost everyone a season.

On Saturday night Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence sent a tweet that, should the season be played, will likely be seen as a landmark statement.




There isn’t a player in the sport who needs the season less than Trevor Lawrence. He could opt out right now and start preparing to hear his name called very early, if not first overall, in the upcoming NFL Draft. His words have to carry some weight.

Multiple Penn State players followed suit, tweeting under the hashtag #IWantToPlay.

Penn State football players take to social media: '#IWantToPlay'

Many of the leaders on the Penn State football team took to Twitter Saturday night to let the world know they want to play this fall, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. And they insist they’ll be able to do so safely.
This comes on the heels of reports earlier in the day that new Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren was set to tell member schools that he preferred to move the 2020 season to the spring of 2021.

Nittany Lions DT P.J. Mustipher had the best summation.



These players are openly begging the men in suits not to take their season away.

As Dellenger notes, this sentiment isn’t just for the guys who will be using the 2020 season to audition for NFL scouts.



Though a few have already opted out for safety concerns and more may yet, the players who are currently practicing overwhelmingly want to play and the athletic departments seem to be serious about following protocols. As Matt Hayes notes, the fact that most Power Five schools still seem to be pushing toward a fall season doesn’t sit well with the Group of Five schools who feel left out in the cold






Look, G5 peeps, we’ve tried to tell you to form your own division and playoff. You will always be relegated to the kid’s table where the P5 schools are concerned.

Where we go from here is anyone’s guess. It seems quite clear that the only voices who should matter in the decision to play games in the current climate, those belonging to the players, are near consensus in not only being comfortable playing in the fall but very much preferring to do so. For some, this season will serve as an audition for a future job in the NFL. For most it won’t, and for many of those players, the opportunity to play big time college football has been the dream they have worked for since they were children. Whether the people in charge allow it to happen remains to be seen.

Hope for the best.

 

[XXL TideFan]

Sounds like they are worried about the additional conference games.

 

[TerryP]

Look, G5 peeps, we’ve tried to tell you to form your own division and playoff. You will always be relegated to the kid’s table where the P5 schools are concerned.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

I would imagine as the doom and gloom spreads this week and if/when more cancel & postpone dominoes begin to tumble, we will see many more players speak up about their desire to play (ironically, in stark contrast to some of the feelings many players expressed a week ago when the SJW train left the CFB station). Anyway, one way or other, this is all about to come to a head. I want football, but don't expect it. I hope I'm wrong but there's just been too many powerful people (starting with school presidents) for months now looking for reasons not to play instead of looking for reason why they should play. I think its going to be a rare case where the "follow the money" argument won't apply. In this case, nor will the "follow the logic" argument if it does indeed come to pass.

 

[Tidestalker]

But I bet the P5 schools go ahead and follow the little old MAC sooner than later...

Always remember that special is only special because there are lesser options. When those lesser options go away, you're just the norm.

When this shakes out, it will become pretty apparent how much every level depends on each other. Those first couple Saturday's have a lot of boring non-con matchups, but they really do make the world turn for ALL of college athletics. Of course the P5 schools can absorb more financial losses, but they can't be as fruitful either without the likes of the MAC and other smaller leagues as willing participants. And of course Vice Versa.

 

[TerryP]

But I bet the P5 schools go ahead and follow the little old MAC sooner than later...

There is no comparison between P5 and the decision made by the MAC. While it's the same sport, it's literally apples and oranges.

The decision made by the MAC was purely economics. They lost their "paid" games and the only thing they'd have to rely on is in-conference games. Last season they had 10 games, all season, that had 20K or more in attendance. That's not even on par with Kansas who has the worst average attendance rate among P5 schools. Back in 2017 they had about a 5% increase in viewership (largely based on the earlier mentioned weeknight games.) They still ranked last among FBS conferences in attendance.

Toledo, as one example, has one of the largest averages in attendance at roughly 20K. 20K, at $44 a ticket? The entire year of ticket sales/proceeds don't match what they'd make in one game against a P5 school.

Simply put, they can't afford to play this season. It's no different than the Ivy League, MEAC, Patriot League, CAA, NEC, Pioneer Football League, Big Sky and the SWAC and the Missouri Valley Football Conference...none can afford to play.

 

[Tidestalker]

There is no comparison between P5 and the decision made by the MAC. While it's the same sport, it's literally apples and oranges.

The decision made by the MAC was purely economics.

First - Not purely economics. Mostly economics. Also for obvious PR reasons, as well as potential health risks.

The same 3 things are true about the P5 schools... And in the same order IMO (The perception/PR of health risks far outweigh the actual issues for healthy athletes... Most of us would agree)

I give the MAC credit for being legitimately realistic. The P5's are going to look foolish when they fall in line... With all that $, and all this well paid leadership, they couldn't see the dominos falling quickly in their direction months ago. The irony, of course, is the MAC can't afford to play a season this Fall... But will be able to afford one in the Spring, because that is when the non-con $$ games can actually take place (Spoiler Alert!). They just beat everyone to announcing it.

But for shits and giggles @TerryP - Why would the P5 conferences ultimately push their season to the Spring? I'll say it's not purely economics, but to argue it doesn't play a significant part in it would be quite obtuse IMO

 

[TerryP]

Why would the P5 conferences ultimately push their season to the Spring? I'll say it's not purely economics, but to argue it doesn't play a significant part in it would be quite obtuse IMO

I've not seen a legitimate or realistic plan for spring football. There are too many conflicts with next season, the NFL, recruiting, and on down the line.
With the MAC, I'll agree some of it is the optics of health and the players. It doesn't ring true, in my view, when they'd get better health care within the football program than they would if they are not playing.

Fact is this. The MAC can't afford the testing procedures being 'enforced.' And, just to add to that, relying on revenue from ticket sales (which I've shown how little it is) would barely "turn the lights"on in their stadiums.

From earlier in this thread...

Toledo, as one example, has one of the largest averages in attendance at roughly 20K. 20K, at $44 a ticket?

That's $880,000 in ticket sales for the year. Last season, game day expenses for the University of Toledo came out to 1.7+M per season. They are already 900K in the hole. And let's not forget, Toledo is one of the more successful and profitable programs in the MAC.