College football players launch drive to stay on the field as season threatens to topple

On Sunday night, players shared a social media message that arose from a Zoom meeting and featured #WeWantToPlay and #WeAreUnited hashtags. Lawrence, a quarterback who is projected to be the top pick in the 2021 NFL draft, believes players are less likely to catch the virus on campus than at home.

“People are at just as much, if not more risk, if we don’t play,” Lawrence wrote on Twitter. “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 covid-19.

“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.

“Having a season also incentivizes players being safe and taking all of the right precautions to try to avoid contracting covid19 because the season/teammates safety is on the line. Without the season, as we’ve seen already people will not social distance or wear masks and take proper precautions.”

Fields tweeted his belief that “there’s been too much work put in!!” to cancel the season.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R) of Nebraska also drafted a letter to Big Ten presidents, a copy of which was obtained by Sports Illustrated and shared on Twitter Monday morning, arguing against canceling the season and citing Lawrence and Fields. “Life is about tradeoffs,” wrote Sasse, the former president of Midland University in Nebraska, whose athletics programs compete at the NAIA level. “There are no guarantees that college football will be completely safe — that’s absolutely true; it’s always true. But the structure and discipline of football programs is very likely safer than what the lived experience of 18-to-22-year-olds will be if there isn’t a season.”

The comment by Lawrence and Fields were part of a two-pronged message. Using the hashtags on Twitter and the logos of the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC and Big 12, players took their message further Sunday night, urging the creation of a union, a College Football Players Association with player representatives from the Power Five conferences. A previous attempt at unionizing, originating with Northwestern players, stalled in 2015 when the National Labor Relations Board issued a unanimous decision that players were not university employees.

With a graphic designed by Dallas Hobbs, a 6-foot-6, 285-pound defensive end at Washington State, the players’ message stated that “we all want to play football this season” and listed their demands. “Establish universal mandated health & safety procedures and protocols to protect college-athletes against covid-19 among all conferences throughout the NCAA. Give players the opportunity to opt out and respect their decision. Guarantee eligibility whether a player chooses to play the season or not. Use our voices to establish open communication and trust between players and officials; ultimately create a College Football Players Association [with] representatives of the players of all Power 5 conferences.”

The social media push was the result of a Zoom meeting earlier Sunday in which players discussed the message they sought to send, according to reports. Besides Lawrence, Fields, Boles and Hobbs, others attending were Clemson running back Darien Rencher, Alabama running back Najee Harris, Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard, Oregon’s Penei Sewell, Johnny Johnson III, Jevon Holland and Kayvon Thibodeaux, Utah’s Nick Ford and Michigan’s Hunter Reynolds.

“The beautiful thing is now we’re all on the same page,” Stanford defensive lineman Dylan Boles told ESPN. “We made history tonight.”

Boles said he received a direct message on Twitter Sunday evening from Rencher, who was seeking to talk about the Pac-12 unity movement in which Boles was involved. Last week, Boles and around 400 players in the conference published their demands and said they planned to boycott practice and potentially games if conference officials were unwilling to meet with them. Big Ten and other players had similar demands.

“We got down to talking and agreed that both of our goals are aligned with each other,” Boles said. “We all want to play this year. We just want to make sure players have a say in this thing.”

As some players around the country opted out of the season, those who wish to play began retweeting the statement of Sunday night, often with commentary.

“If opting out is ok,” Pittsburgh defensive end Rashad Weaver wrote, referring to those who have chosen to forgo the season, “then opting in should hold just as much weight.”

“Our conference has more than enough money to protect us players,” offered Leon O’Neal Jr., a safety at Texas A&M.

Some players took that tack of extolling university medical staffs. Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer wrote, “I speak on behalf of myself and our team. We trust our medical staff here at Baylor University, and we believe they are going to put us in the best position possible to be safe.”

“Being in the football facility,” Louisville quarterback Evan Conley wrote, “is honestly when I feel safest from COVID.”