From PFT...
Multiple premier players, headlined by Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, tweeted a message under the logo of the Power 5 conferences and the hashtags #WeAreUnited and #WeWantToPlay.
“We all want to play football this season,” the message states, followed by a list of 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.” |
I have a several problems with this statement...
1) Are these top tier players really speaking for all Power 5 Conference players? Do they have signatures? It doesn't seem likely. It seems more like the players who wanted to play got on the phone with each other and all agree that they wanted to play. And meanwhile all the players who aren't crazy about the idea kept quiet.
2) Colleges aren't as capable as the NFL at establishing health & safety protocols that could truly protect these players. Testing cost money, lots and lots of it, is this an expense that all of the Power 5 Conference teams can afford? Especially when you consider the lost revenue from empty stadiums.
3) And what about the coaches!? Did Lawrence and Fields reach out to the coaching staffs of each of these colleges to see how they feel about it? Will the coaches also have the opportunity to opt out and return the following season?
4) Under their scenario, are they attending classes as well? Are the other students attending classes? Or is this just the ultimate admission of hypocrisy? It's too dangerous to attend classes, but not to dangerous to share a locker room and line up spitting distance from each other time and time again?
This statement by the players strikes me as incredibly naive. I wonder if their parents are calling the schools at the same time and saying, "If you have a season I will sue the fat pants off of you!"
p.s.--The smart thing to do is to delay the college season until Spring with the hope that there will be a vaccine by then. But that's of little help to the Trever Lawrence's of the world, because it's unreasonable to expect them to play 10+ college games in the Spring and then head directly to NFL training camp and a Fall season. That's a suicide mission.
Florio's take - (
New Window )
I think many people have gotten to the point where enough is enough. Follow protocols and get on with life.
Hmmm...
3. Easy solution. Just let coaches sit for a year. I'm sure they are plenty of recent grads that would jump at the opportunity to join a staff, even if only guaranteed 1 year.
4. Do football players at Power 5 Conf actually attend classes in normal years? ;=)
If that were an option we would all be at work and living our lives like it is 2019 again.
There may be a few players who would say this but the vast majority won't. Seems like Milton started this thread to state his own opinions with very little thought or understanding.
If that were an option we would all be at work and living our lives like it is 2019 again.
Some people live in fantasy land. Good luck with the mandate, haha.
I think many people have gotten to the point where enough is enough. Follow protocols and get on with life.
Quote:
where the college athletes said it was too dangerous to attend class. thanks
There may be a few players who would say this but the vast majority won't. Seems like Milton started this thread to state his own opinions with very little thought or understanding.
That's most threads he starts. Though, to be fair, that's most threads on BBI.
2nd day she was there she see a really big party and one of the seniors she knows said it was one of the biggest parties he has seen in his 4 years.
Kids will not follow protocol. Some will but most wont, it is what it is. there are too many different schools involved in college with too many different laws and protocols. They are just not ready logistically to get it done for this season.
Some kids need that day in and day out responsibility and discipline.
Could be more irresponsible behavior with no college season.
I think many people have gotten to the point where enough is enough. Follow protocols and get on with life.
Too many not following protocols, and all it take is one person to spread to X number of others. Reportedly, 250,000 people just gathered in Sturgis SD for their annual biker rally. Few masks, if any, were seen. And now...all those people are heading back to whereever. And on and on and on it goes....This thing will take a complete buy in to beat, and we as a country simply arent up to it. We dont want our fun to be interrupted. There are still people out there who think this thing is a big fake...its like if we cant SEE it, it doesnt exist. If this virus was a 6 headed fire breathing dragon, maybe it would be different. but its not. Should have gotten on top of this months ago. But we didnt.....and here we are.
A bad reason to play is the notion players can’t be trusted away from campus or the football team.
Quote:
where the college athletes said it was too dangerous to attend class. thanks
Quote:
who want to play will be extremely high. The parents probably the same. I think people fail to realize how important sports are to these kids and I am not even talking about the ones who look forward to a professional career.
I think many people have gotten to the point where enough is enough. Follow protocols and get on with life.
The problem is too many people are NOT following protocols. What happens if Trevor Lawrence plays, contracts covid and cannot play in the NFL due to a heart or lung condition develops? Clemson, the NCAA, the conference are all getting sued. If the selfish people of this country would follow protocols we would be further along. But too many didn't so here we are
Getting sued for what? I'm sure they'd all have to sign waiver of rights. Not to mention, Trevor Lawrence probably has the highest injury insurance ever given to a college football player.
Your post shows no understanding for what this means to the players and their families. This leads me to believe that you never played football or other team sport at the Division 1 level. If this is a incorrect assumption my apologies.
Since you singled out Lawrence here is a guess. He wants to win a National Championship with his teammates for his school and probably does not want to end his career with his performance in his last game. It is not all about the money for everyone.
Yeah, he's all over the map. And no, I'm not going to kill the kid because he's 20 & I remember myself @ 20 & I'd be itching to play too.
Your unwillingness to address any of the actual points I make leads me to believe you never captained your high school chess team to a county championship or or won a wrestling tournament at the junior high school level. If this is an incorrect assumption, my apologies.
I accept your apology. Thank you. Let's move on.
Safety says postpone or cancel for CTE or torn ACLs too. Much higher risk for this population set than covid based on the cold hard, non political and fear mongering bullshit politics. A sports analyst tonight said 600,000 athletes across sports were hospitalized last year for sports injuries. My quick google search shows it was closer to 500,000 but same conclusion.
And yet we continue to hear about Eduardo Rodriguez and the occasional other outliers.
Quote:
A sports analyst tonight said 600,000 athletes across sports were hospitalized last year for sports injuries. My quick google search shows it was closer to 500,000 but same conclusion.
Going home to mom and dad with a torn ACL doesn't get them killed.
That argument is so lazy and lame at this point. Everyone knows the risks, especially the at risk. Be a lot better.
*of course outliers with underlying conditions or otherwise occasional outiliers with unlucky outcomes that we can debate for years - for every opera singer that dies young there’s an 85 year old with cancer that gets through it. Not worth rehashing obvious anecdotes at this point, for me anyway
Quote:
First he said he wouldn’t pLay unless conditions were met and then he says they should play (even though they obviously can’t meet the conditions). Safety says postpone or cancel.
Safety says postpone or cancel for CTE or torn ACLs too. Much higher risk for this population set than covid based on the cold hard, non political and fear mongering bullshit politics. A sports analyst tonight said 600,000 athletes across sports were hospitalized last year for sports injuries. My quick google search shows it was closer to 500,000 but same conclusion.
And yet we continue to hear about Eduardo Rodriguez and the occasional other outliers.
Really not true. I'm not scared of COVID, I don't vote blue or red, and I disagree with you. If you are going to bring in sports injuries into the equation (ones that they've been trying to mitigate I might add) then it isn't a conversation worth having. Freak injuries in a contact sport is now being compared to a virus that spreads pretty easily?
Just a really strange and frankly absurd take on this whole thing.
It's time the leaders in this country took things seriously and stopped with the half measures. Just make it the law. NOW.
If we let this thing go unchecked, health care facilities will end up overrun. That's first and foremost. Second, the death toll and infection rate will jump significantly.
I don't know wtf is so hard to process with this whole thing. Other countries are doing away with this thing simply by wearing masks. Other countries see the concern with allowing this bug to spread unchecked.
Also, last I checked, ACL injuries are not contagious and won't lead to a near collapse of the country's health care.
Short and sweet I don't know why this country can't just attack things head on and stop with the bullshit.
Quote:
First he said he wouldn’t pLay unless conditions were met and then he says they should play (even though they obviously can’t meet the conditions). Safety says postpone or cancel.
Safety says postpone or cancel for CTE or torn ACLs too. Much higher risk for this population set than covid based on the cold hard, non political and fear mongering bullshit politics. A sports analyst tonight said 600,000 athletes across sports were hospitalized last year for sports injuries. My quick google search shows it was closer to 500,000 but same conclusion.
And yet we continue to hear about Eduardo Rodriguez and the occasional other outliers.
Link - ( New Window )