"Players of the Pac-12 say they will opt out of season over concerns of COVID-19" https://twitter.com/i/events/1289952183413137410?s=09
Last edited:
Bomani Jones: PAC-12 fighting for student athlete rights & postpones season UPDATE: BIG 10 done too
- Thread starter playahaitian
- Start date
NCAA: Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich tells WR Kassidy Woods (who has sickle cell trait) joining unity group would create 'an issue'
Wazzu coach warns WR about joining unity group https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29587843/washington-state-football-coach-nick-rolovich-tells-wr-kassidy-woods-joining-unity-group-create-issue via @ESPN App http://espn.com/app Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich tells WR...
www.bgol.us
Pac-12 followed the money and found a movement
A seismic shift is happening in the Pac-12. On Sunday morning, a group of players published a list of demands via The Players’ Tribune, seeking improved health …
theundefeated.com
Pac-12 followed the money and found a movement
The basis of the movement is an unprecedented level of conversation across teams, spurred by COVID-19
UP NEXT FROM SPORTS
- 1Pac-12 followed the money and found a movement
By Bomani Jones - 2Clippers guard Lou Williams prefers focus be on his late mentor, Paul G. Williams
By Marc J. Spears - 3Bob Ryland loved tennis until the very end
By Jerry Bembry - 4White NBA players discuss responsibility to Black teammates: ‘It’s a continuous fight’
By Marc J. Spears - 5Social justice messages each NBA player is wearing on his jersey
By The Undefeated
BY BOMANI JONES @BOMANI_JONES
August 3, 2020
A seismic shift is happening in the Pac-12. On Sunday morning, a group of players published a list of demands via The Players’ Tribune, seeking improved health and safety protections as well as pushing for significant economic reform. But the most important issue to the hundreds of players behind this movement is racial justice.
“When we first got started, our only thought was coronavirus,” said Jake Curhan, a redshirt senior at Cal who helped organize the players. “We started talking to some of our teammates, and they said, ‘What about the Black Lives Matter issue? We don’t want to detract from their issue.’ The more we started talking with them, it became clear the two were the same issues.”
“We” is Curhan, Valentino Daltoso, also a redshirt senior on Cal’s football team, and Andrew Cooper, a cross country runner who’s the co-president of Cal’s student-athlete advisory committee. Cooper ran at Washington State, where he was president of the school’s student-athlete advisory committee, and came to Cal to run and work on his master’s degree in cultural studies of sport in education. Curhan is clear that the three of them are not the “leaders” of this movement, but the organization of the players started with them. And for Cooper, this started years ago while he was in Pullman, Washington, where his time as an athlete and with the student-athlete advisory committee and his own independent research taught him two important lessons.
“I learned how this system will never change from within. Ever.”
And the other?
ADVERTISEMENT
“The only way a labor movement can be started is with a work stoppage.”
Cooper is from Issaquah, Washington, a 20-minute drive from Seattle. He turned down schools such as Harvard and Yale to pursue his dream of running professionally at Washington State. After losing his father during his freshman year, he realized advocacy was where he wanted to take his life. After Tyler Hilinski, a Cougars quarterback, died by suicide in 2018, Cooper directed his focus to mental health advocacy.
It was at a Pac-12 council meeting when Cooper checked out on fixing the system from the inside. Cooper recalled a speech on mental health given by Kate Fagan, formerly of ESPN and the author of What Made Maddy Run, a bestseller about the mental health struggles of Madison Holleran, a distance runner at Penn who, like Hilinski, died by suicide. Cooper was enraptured, calling it one of the best speeches he’d ever heard.
Not everyone was as engrossed. “I’m looking around and some of these [athletic directors] are typing on their laptops,” Cooper said. “And I said, ‘Oh, OK, no one’s trying to change anything.’ Athletes care so much that we create initiatives on top of being overwhelmed. Through being in the rooms, I learned that systemic change will not happen within the system.”
EDITOR'S PICKS
- A lament on the day the NBA returns
- The NBA bubble is a grand experiment in epidemiology
- Honoring Black lives lost to COVID-19
Cooper arrived in Berkeley, California, in the fall of 2019. Shortly thereafter, he met Curhan and they stayed in touch. On July 1, Cooper met Daltoso, connected by Ramogi Huma of the National College Players Association. Cooper was surprised that Daltoso, Curhan’s roommate, reached out, as the players had a great relationship with their head coach, Justin Wilcox. But the danger and uncertainty presented by COVID-19 left them worried about participating in football workouts and wondering why they were there at all.
“The same ones handling these regulations are the ones set to make millions if we play,” Daltoso said. “If our health and safety was No. 1, we wouldn’t be on campus.”
Via group texts and social media, the Pac-12’s players – many of whom, in the California-centric conference, have been friends since childhood – compared notes on how their schools were handling COVID-19, quickly realizing that what they’d been told about uniform standards within the conference wasn’t true. “I think we’re doing pretty well at Cal,” Curhan said. “The fact we’re going to have to play these other schools? A little unsettling.”
Cooper also noticed what he called “big-time college athletes” tweeting that they deserved to be paid. After a Zoom call with a player on every Pac-12 team, the scope of the building movement shifted. “Coronavirus is the most pressing issue of the moment, but it’s just put a spotlight on how college athletics works,” Daltoso said. “They rely so heavily on us to bring this money in, and we don’t see a penny of it.
“End of the day, this is about money, and we’ve got to get paid.”
By July 4, Cooper, Daltoso and Curhan decided to focus on three major issues – racial justice, health and safety protections, and economic rights. The next day, the first Zoom call with players from every Pac-12 school took place. “There was initial skepticism, but everyone on the Zoom stuck with us,” Cooper said.
After seeing the pitfalls of Northwestern’s football team’s attempt to unionize in 2015, the group realized unionization was not the best route for them. From there, Cooper shared what he’d learned about organizing, which he’s clear to say is “having as many one-on-one conversations with people as you can for a cause.” Curhan and Daltoso spent most of July making connections via social media while Cooper provided advice and perspective. In the process, leadership emerged at the other Pac-12 schools.
“I feel like we’ve built a base of 200-300 leaders,” Cooper said. “And now, all of those leaders are empowered with the information and inform their teammates to join this as well.”
“There’s technically not one person running the show,” said Washington State’s Dallas Hobbs. “It’s a collective of people who really want to create change in their school, but around the whole Pac-12.”
The group chat now has 400 members. One of the members, Treyjohn Butler of Stanford, started communicating with players around the country in July about their schools’ commitment to social justice after the killing of George Floyd. “We wanted to speak up about social injustice at first and felt our schools were silent,” Butler said. “Schools posted about Black Lives Matter and called it a day.”
From there his conversations turned within the Pac-12, as players asked each other about the COVID-19 protocols at their schools. Butler said his colleagues were jealous of Stanford’s weekly testing and diligence, as they weren’t receiving the same treatment, but many were afraid of opting out of voluntary workouts. “Guys who were at risk and who weren’t comfortable were afraid of getting their money cut. Some guys said they had their money cut.”
Health and safety and racial justice are most important to Butler in this movement. Initially, he resisted a push for compensation because he didn’t think it was a pressing matter. “Then it got to a point where we were discussing money in a reasonable manner,” he said.
The organizers find it impossible to separate the economics of college football from the push for justice. “When these schools talk about ‘black lives matter,’ it’s kind of ironic,” Daltoso said. “The system they profit off of is exactly the opposite of that. It’s divesting all these guys’ rights.”
On July 31, Huma and Ellen Staurowsky, a professor at Drexel University, released a study that positions amateurism as “a tool of racial injustice.” They see it all as a wealth transfer, taking income from predominantly Black athletes and giving it to predominantly white institutions, which pay the highest salaries for jobs almost exclusively filled by white men. The study estimates the value of each Pac-12 football player, from 2017 to 2020, was $1,097,816. And for many players, this is when their services are most marketable.
Jevon Holland is a defensive back at Oregon and is projected as an early-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Curhan and Daltoso reached out to him because of his willingness to be outspoken, strong social media following and track record of results. Holland tweeted June 3 that the name of one building, Matthew Deady Hall, should be changed because of Deady’s legacy of racism. Two days later, an emergency meeting of Oregon’s board was called and the name was changed via an emergency vote.
“We’re being used,” he said. “Our bodies are being pushed to the limit and we don’t get the fruits of our labor.”
“Two percent of us are ever going to make money from playing football or playing basketball. We’re all too good at what we do for that to be the case. We put in too much work,” Curhan said.
A three-year starter, Curhan has NFL aspirations, but he knows he’s privileged to say he would have no problem attending college without football. He gets that his situation is different from many of his teammates. “These guys come from nothing for a 2% chance to go back, and then go back to nothing. We have teammates who have kids. they’re struggling to get by on the stipend check we get. We have teammates who send whatever money they have left back home because their families need it more than they do.
“The Pac-12, in the last four years, they’ve increased revenue by $200 million. It’s not like everything has gotten $200 million more expensive. Where is this money going?”
Daltoso doesn’t buy the common retort to that question, that the money revenue sport athletes don’t receive is necessary to fund non-revenue sports. “We don’t want it to turn into revenue vs. non-revenue sports,” Daltoso said. “They’re nonprofit, so they’re spending all the money. They’re putting their hands up: ‘We’re gonna have to cut the soccer team if you get paid.’ That’s not how it works. It’s not our fault you were irresponsible with this money.”
“It’s a spending problem, not a cost problem,” Curhan said.
The economic discussions have grabbed headlines. Butler noted that his willingness to support that plank of the platform is because of the attention it would generate. But that won’t be front and center for the players. “I told everyone there’s three issues at hand, and it’s important to separate them, because they have three different solutions,” Cooper said. “There’s racial injustices in America, which you address as being as vocal as possible. Then COVID, which you do the same. Then economic advances, that you address quietly.”
All those changes will have to take place through negotiation. Every football player who spoke with ESPN made it clear he wants to play. They fear being cast as greedy, but believe what they’re doing and saying is right. Most of them speak highly of their head coaches and believe their own teams are doing their best to keep them safe. Curhan says Wilcox told him he supports players improving their conditions and won’t hold this movement against players. Stanford head coach David Shaw spoke with Butler, and the conversation went well. Holland says his coach, Mario Cristobal, called him to listen. The basis of the movement is not resentment, but awareness and an unprecedented level of conversation across teams, spurred by COVID-19.
Get our For the Culture newslette
“The demands of being a college athlete are so overwhelming, they don’t have time for talking,” said Cooper, whose master’s thesis is on the systemic inequities in college sports. “They think it’s only them going through the struggle. It’s when they start talking, [that] they realize everyone goes through the exact same struggle.”
How this ends remains to be seen. In 1970, eight Syracuse football players skipped a spring practice when their grievances were not addressed by their head coach. They were immediately suspended, and many believe they were blackballed from the NFL.
In 2015, Missouri’s football team threatened not to play a game in the midst of campus protests. That game wasn’t canceled, but the embattled university president resigned soon thereafter, but the players were not protesting their own conditions.
Lots of time has passed between those acts, but they’re the only two that seem as momentous as what’s happening in the Pac-12. Even in 2020, there are risks, as evidenced by Washington State coach Nick Rolovich’s vaguely threatening reaction to his players who’ve joined this movement.
But Holland is resolute. “I’m truly at peace that if this affects my future, then what I did was right.”
This is so dumb.
Why you say that?
Tired of these guys acting like college is free for everybody.
I fdont get this
It should be free for everybody. Higher learning should not be a privilege.
Big Ten Statement
The Big Ten Conference announced today, based on the advice and counsel of the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, that, until further notice, all institutions will remain in the first two days of the acclimatization period in football...
bigten.org
The way i see it is that while the big school/big name athletes do bring in alot of money, they always talk as though they get nothing in return and they doing all this for free.
The truth is they have better accommodations/perks then everybody else in school, on top of getting their education paid for.
Theres alot of rules in the NCAA that are completely ridiculous. The power they have over these kids really is wayyyy out of line. That side is true.
The side that is not true is that these kids get taken advantage of. Think about ALL the kids playing college football. How many make it to the NFL? So all these other kids got to go to college for free, get a degree, play the sport they love at a high level, and after 5 years they join the real world with ZERO DEBT. Lets be honest, you know pretty early if you have a shot at the NFL, for all those who dont they can take the time to maximize their educational goals.
The rest of us leave college with an enormous debt, we had to play our sports at the park/Y, had to work part or full time throughout, and got NONE of the perks. For example, if i wanted healthcare that was extra on my bill. If i wanted access to the gym that was extra on my bill...
All im saying is lets not pretend that these kids get nothing.
Last edited:
What about the rest of the kids that get a full ride without risking their health not to mention their study time. These kids bring it millions and most will never earn a dime from their labor.
So would you rather have a 20,000 scholarship or make 200k off your name and likeness.
I know it was there intention, they should have never released this statement....Now,you got people saying "See,the players from Ohio State feel safe" trying to negate the concerns of the players from the SEC and PAC-12.
This isnt about being able to make money off your name and likeness. Like I said already, the NCAA has power over them that goes beyond common sense. Thats one of those rules.
But even if i take your example. Its only a handful of kids who can real money off of their likeness. Compared to ALL the kids playing college ball... Its nothing.
These kids are there because they WANT to play football. Health risks and all.
The dime they see for their labor is a 5 year full scholarship.
Again, why are we acting as though that isnt worth anything?
Spend 5 years at UCLA and tell me what kind of bills you leaving with.
Im all for these kids fighting for the best health measures in these COVID times. Thats real. They should get our support in that fight. What I didnt like from the article is that there was no mention of the educational opportunities these kids get.
5 yrs at UCLA is maybe 160,000 with all costs. The coach makes about TEN TIMES that in 1 year. The lowest grad assistant makes that same 40,000 per year. The athlete spends 40 hrs week on football, PLUS they have to go to class, mostly in bullshit majors, that the coaches "pick or recommend" for them.
Time in, does no match the compensation or the actual real value per person. That study from depaul calculated EACH athlete is worth 1 million to the university over a 4 year span.
For those who are talking about the educational benefits these players receive, I assure you that most players receive degrees barely worth the paper it is printed on. In rare instances you get a Myron Rolle. But, keep in mind that the reason he received so much media attention was because he was an anomaly.
Many player do not finish. Many player have lifelong injuries that are not covered by school insurance after they leave the team.
Allowing them to be paid for this sacrifice is the least that the NCAA could do.
Edit: As I have shared before, I am an administrator at a known university who works closely with black students, which includes EVERY black athlete. I get a printed out report every semester of all of these students progress towards their "degrees."
Many player do not finish. Many player have lifelong injuries that are not covered by school insurance after they leave the team.
Allowing them to be paid for this sacrifice is the least that the NCAA could do.
Edit: As I have shared before, I am an administrator at a known university who works closely with black students, which includes EVERY black athlete. I get a printed out report every semester of all of these students progress towards their "degrees."
According to UCLA, as a non resident I should budget about 67K a year if i wanna go there. Thats 335K over 5 years.
Tuition and Fees
Learn more about the costs associated with attending UCLA, including residency, tuition, fees and more.
During the season, the schedual is packed but they get all the extra help they need for class, free of charge of course.
Kids dont HAVE to enroll in bullshit majors. They can put their education first if they want to. UConn and Alabama have the same number of scholarships to give out. Nobody plays football at UConn thinking they gonna make it in the NFL. In fact the overwhelming majority of the kids playing college football today dont have a shot at the NFL. Those who make it are the exception.
So all these other kids get a great shot at an education and are living the sport they love.
If it was only that easy. I’ve worked in academic support at a power 5 school. A lot of these dudes wouldn’t be in college without the ability to play sports (I’ve worked with guys who couldn’t type, did know how to research topics for papers, struggled to read) and when they get their the goal is to keep them eligible, so they, and often their parent(s) are just happy they are getting a degree that the long term outlook on employment is an afterthought. Also, remember, they all think they are going to the NFL.According to UCLA, as a non resident I should budget about 67K a year if i wanna go there. Thats 335K over 5 years.
Tuition and Fees
Learn more about the costs associated with attending UCLA, including residency, tuition, fees and more.www.admission.ucla.edu
During the season, the schedual is packed but they get all the extra help they need for class, free of charge of course.
Kids dont HAVE to enroll in bullshit majors. They can put their education first if they want to. UConn and Alabama have the same number of scholarships to give out. Nobody plays football at UConn thinking they gonna make it in the NFL. In fact the overwhelming majority of the kids playing college football today dont have a shot at the NFL. Those who make it are the exception.
So all these other kids get a great shot at an education and are living the sport they love.
As far as scheduling; agreed they get a fair amount of support but their lives are brutal as far as scheduling; the travel, mandatory study halls, training table, having to take all the early classes so they can be at practice by 2:30; having to make alternate arrangements for classes that have labs; shit is brutal and is a 16-18 grind each day. Now one thing that has helped the team (not the athlete imo because it keeps them isolated from the rest of the student body) is online classes. Some athletes are now hardly leaving the athletic facilities because they can do a lot of the classes online. Not the STEM majors obviously but the ones in humanities or sports management or administration (common athletic major at my power 5 school) can be at the football complex all day up until practice, and in between classes they are being studying the sport.
For the kids whose parents know what they need to get out of college, they have a better shot of getting a decent degree and have all the post college connections to get them into the workforce making real money. Unfortunately a vast majority of those parents at Power 5’s are white. The black first generation athletes are lambs to the slaughter unless they have an advocate looking past their NFL potential and guiding them towards life after sports.
Your right!! If a kid wants to continue schooling, if they can pass the entrance exam!! Educate those kids!! That would be a big azz plus for our colony!! You know how many inventors, doctors, educator, scientists and so on that get passed up because of no money or enuf money?? I know sum won't like that!! But I'm looking at our copper color kids!!
Playing college football is a sacrifice now?
Man...
I have 3 boys and Im trying to save up to send them to college.
Should i count myself lucky if they dont get scholarships and we have to pay for everything ourselves?
Nothing is easy.
I know theres challenges everywhere.
Im not disputing anything you saying.
But listen, Im looking at the other side of what you said.
All those kids who come and they cant even read or write, they just got a lifeline that could save their lives. Think about all the other kids who cant read cant write and also cant play sports. Do they get a lifeline?
Y’all better read this.
It’s sports first, and damn everything else. Your classes better not interfere with your sports obligations. Effectively you get the opportunity to pursue a subset of degrees offered by the university.
Big Ten expected to vote to cancel football season; no games for Michigan, Michigan State in 2020
Orion Sang, David Jesse, Chris Solari and Chris Thomas, Detroit Free PressPublished 11:24 a.m. ET Aug. 10, 2020 | Updated 2:20 p.m. ET Aug. 10, 2020
0:34
1:18
SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports sat down with former NASCAR CEO and chairman Brian France to discuss the possibility of no college football this season and the financial ramifications that would follow. USA TODAY
CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE
Note: This story has been updated on from a previous version.
The Big Ten is expected to cancel the 2020 college football season in a historic move that stems from concerns related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, multiple people with knowledge of the decision told the Free Press.
"It's done," one high-ranking Big Ten source said Monday afternoon.
Sources said the presidents were in agreement Sunday to end fall sports in the conference. Michigan and Michigan State — which both have physicians as presidents — were among the schools in favor of ending the fall seasons, sources said.
Multiple sources said early Monday morning that presidents voted 12-2 to end the season, though the Big Ten said Monday afternoon no official vote had taken place. Dan Patrick, who first reported the 12-2 vote, said on his radio show that Iowa and Nebraska were the only two schools in favor or playing.
According to The Lansing State Journal, Big Ten presidents were expected to meet again Monday at 6 p.m. to formally vote on ending the season. One Free Press source said Monday afternoon the schools are expected to collectively move forward in the same direction.
[ Jim Harbaugh says college football should be played, explains why ]
The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the decision. A formal announcement is expected Tuesday, multiple sources said. The situation remains fluid as the Big Ten tries to coordinate its announcement with other Power Five conferences.
The Chicago Tribune reported around noon that "a top-level" Big Ten source texted that, "No final decisions have been made," while the Columbus Dispatch reported as of 12:25 p.m. that Ohio State had not yet been ordered to suspend practices.
The move comes two days after the Mid-American Conference became the first in the FBS to cancel ts season.
Sources told the Free Press on Saturday that Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren prefers a spring football season, although no decision has been made.
On Monday, Michigan State football moved its scheduled off day from Tuesday to Monday because of the uncertainty of the 2020 season, three people with direct knowledge of the situation told the Free Press. Iowa canceled Monday's 11 a.m. practice, according to the Des Moines Register. And Purdue reportedly rescheduled its media availability.
As of Monday morning, MSU and Michigan players had not yet been told of any decision to cancel the 2020 season, sources at each school said. Two sources said MSU coaches were hopeful more information would be provided Monday.
Presidents are trying to figure out how all this fits with other conferences and they want athletic directors to handle logistics of determining if spring season is possible, sources said. The situation reportedly is changing by the hour, which is why the Big Ten has not made its announcement official.
The cancellation of season comes a week after the Big Ten revealed an updated 10-game conference-only schedule for 2020, and just days after teams in the conference opened fall camp.
It also comes as players across the nation are opting out because of concerns about how the virus could impact their short- and long-term health. Four Michigan State players said they wouldn't play in 2020, and one team source said more players were expected to follow.
MSU linebacker Marcel Lewis, who opted out Saturday, said he lost a family member to the virus and doesn't want to risk play. Offensive tackle Justin Stevens, who also opted out Saturday, said he has a respiratory condition that could make him high risk. A number of other players around the Big Ten — including Minnesota wide receiver Rashod Bateman, Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons and Purdue wideout Rondale Moore — also announced they would not play this season and begin preparation for the 2021 NFL draft.
Indiana offensive lineman Brady Feeney, whose is suffering from COVID-19-related heart issues and whose mother wrote an impassioned message imploring the college football world to take the virus seriously, took to Twitter on Monday morning with his own urging schools and players "to listen to our medical experts."
"Covid-19 is serious," Brady Feeney wrote. "I never thought that I would have serious health complications from this virus, but look at what happened."
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security and one of the members of the group advising the NCAA on COVID-19, told the Free Press on Saturday a college football season no longer appeared feasible.
"When we were trying to think about ways to make it safe, we were at a time when there was kind of more control of the virus, and you've got less control of the virus now than we had several months earlier during when the stay at home orders were just starting to be lifted," Adalja said. "And then the other thing that's made it what made it much more difficult is football is a contact sport, which is going to require some amount of testing of players. The turnaround times for for outpatient testing are really unacceptable for being able to safely clear somebody to play.
"When you have this type of problem with testing, where it might take days to get a result back, it really makes it extremely challenging for this to occur."
Both MSU president Samuel Stanley (immunology and infectious diseases) and U-M president Mark Schlissel (immunology and internal medicine) are medical doctors.
Early Monday morning, players across the nation began uniting with the hashtag: 'WeWantToPlay.' Michigan defensive back Hunter Reynolds, who helped organize a unity statement among Big Ten players last week, told the Free Press early Monday morning that he hoped the movement "can save fall college sports in general."
"Obviously, you know there are gonna be risks with playing sports this fall, especially in the midst of COVID-19," Reynolds said. "But I think, as athletes, we feel that if the schools are unified and uniform in doing everything in their power to ensure our well-being and safety that that's a risk that a lot of people are willing to take."
Orion Sang, David Jesse, Chris Solari and Chris Thomas, Detroit Free PressPublished 11:24 a.m. ET Aug. 10, 2020 | Updated 2:20 p.m. ET Aug. 10, 2020
0:34
1:18
SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports sat down with former NASCAR CEO and chairman Brian France to discuss the possibility of no college football this season and the financial ramifications that would follow. USA TODAY
CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE
Note: This story has been updated on from a previous version.
The Big Ten is expected to cancel the 2020 college football season in a historic move that stems from concerns related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, multiple people with knowledge of the decision told the Free Press.
"It's done," one high-ranking Big Ten source said Monday afternoon.
Sources said the presidents were in agreement Sunday to end fall sports in the conference. Michigan and Michigan State — which both have physicians as presidents — were among the schools in favor of ending the fall seasons, sources said.
Multiple sources said early Monday morning that presidents voted 12-2 to end the season, though the Big Ten said Monday afternoon no official vote had taken place. Dan Patrick, who first reported the 12-2 vote, said on his radio show that Iowa and Nebraska were the only two schools in favor or playing.
According to The Lansing State Journal, Big Ten presidents were expected to meet again Monday at 6 p.m. to formally vote on ending the season. One Free Press source said Monday afternoon the schools are expected to collectively move forward in the same direction.
[ Jim Harbaugh says college football should be played, explains why ]
The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the decision. A formal announcement is expected Tuesday, multiple sources said. The situation remains fluid as the Big Ten tries to coordinate its announcement with other Power Five conferences.
The Chicago Tribune reported around noon that "a top-level" Big Ten source texted that, "No final decisions have been made," while the Columbus Dispatch reported as of 12:25 p.m. that Ohio State had not yet been ordered to suspend practices.
The move comes two days after the Mid-American Conference became the first in the FBS to cancel ts season.
Sources told the Free Press on Saturday that Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren prefers a spring football season, although no decision has been made.
On Monday, Michigan State football moved its scheduled off day from Tuesday to Monday because of the uncertainty of the 2020 season, three people with direct knowledge of the situation told the Free Press. Iowa canceled Monday's 11 a.m. practice, according to the Des Moines Register. And Purdue reportedly rescheduled its media availability.
As of Monday morning, MSU and Michigan players had not yet been told of any decision to cancel the 2020 season, sources at each school said. Two sources said MSU coaches were hopeful more information would be provided Monday.
Presidents are trying to figure out how all this fits with other conferences and they want athletic directors to handle logistics of determining if spring season is possible, sources said. The situation reportedly is changing by the hour, which is why the Big Ten has not made its announcement official.
The cancellation of season comes a week after the Big Ten revealed an updated 10-game conference-only schedule for 2020, and just days after teams in the conference opened fall camp.
It also comes as players across the nation are opting out because of concerns about how the virus could impact their short- and long-term health. Four Michigan State players said they wouldn't play in 2020, and one team source said more players were expected to follow.
MSU linebacker Marcel Lewis, who opted out Saturday, said he lost a family member to the virus and doesn't want to risk play. Offensive tackle Justin Stevens, who also opted out Saturday, said he has a respiratory condition that could make him high risk. A number of other players around the Big Ten — including Minnesota wide receiver Rashod Bateman, Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons and Purdue wideout Rondale Moore — also announced they would not play this season and begin preparation for the 2021 NFL draft.
Indiana offensive lineman Brady Feeney, whose is suffering from COVID-19-related heart issues and whose mother wrote an impassioned message imploring the college football world to take the virus seriously, took to Twitter on Monday morning with his own urging schools and players "to listen to our medical experts."
"Covid-19 is serious," Brady Feeney wrote. "I never thought that I would have serious health complications from this virus, but look at what happened."
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security and one of the members of the group advising the NCAA on COVID-19, told the Free Press on Saturday a college football season no longer appeared feasible.
"When we were trying to think about ways to make it safe, we were at a time when there was kind of more control of the virus, and you've got less control of the virus now than we had several months earlier during when the stay at home orders were just starting to be lifted," Adalja said. "And then the other thing that's made it what made it much more difficult is football is a contact sport, which is going to require some amount of testing of players. The turnaround times for for outpatient testing are really unacceptable for being able to safely clear somebody to play.
"When you have this type of problem with testing, where it might take days to get a result back, it really makes it extremely challenging for this to occur."
Both MSU president Samuel Stanley (immunology and infectious diseases) and U-M president Mark Schlissel (immunology and internal medicine) are medical doctors.
Early Monday morning, players across the nation began uniting with the hashtag: 'WeWantToPlay.' Michigan defensive back Hunter Reynolds, who helped organize a unity statement among Big Ten players last week, told the Free Press early Monday morning that he hoped the movement "can save fall college sports in general."
"Obviously, you know there are gonna be risks with playing sports this fall, especially in the midst of COVID-19," Reynolds said. "But I think, as athletes, we feel that if the schools are unified and uniform in doing everything in their power to ensure our well-being and safety that that's a risk that a lot of people are willing to take."
Sources: Power 5 Conferences Moving Toward Canceling Fall Sports
PAT FORDE AND ROSS DELLENGER19 HOURS AGO
High-level conference meetings are being planned for this week across the college football landscape with the expected resolution of postponing fall sports until 2021, multiple sources have told Sports Illustrated.
“It’s gotten to a critical stage,” one conference commissioner told Sports Illustrated Sunday, after a conference call between the heads of the Power 5 conferences. “I think all of us will be meeting with our boards in the coming days. We have work to do that is no fun.”
Dominoes started falling in earnest Saturday when the Mid-American Conference postponed fall sports. The Big Ten followed with an announcement that it was pausing its scheduled progression to full-pads football practices. A well-placed source told SI Saturday, “I think by the end of the week the fall sports will be postponed in all conferences.”
Even that timetable might be accelerated. Sources told SI on Sunday that the Big Ten is moving toward a decision to cancel the 2020 fall season, while engaging other Power 5 conferences on a uniform decision to be announced later this week.
Group of 5 league representatives simultaneously were conferring to align their own timelines, a source said.
Both the Pac-12 and Big 12 have calls with league presidents on Tuesday night that might present the first scheduled opportunity for Power 5 leagues to formally vote on postponement. But other calls could be scheduled earlier.
A Big Ten presidents call to discuss the season was planned for Sunday night, SI confirmed. Conference USA had a call previously scheduled for Wednesday, but that may be moved up, sources said. Sun Belt presidents have a regularly scheduled Tuesday morning meeting, as do AAC athletic directors.
The move toward halting the season comes as a jarring about-face after leagues spent most of the last week finalizing football schedule models and/or releasing schedules. Any momentum toward playing those games was abruptly halted by the MAC's decision to postpone, citing health and safety concerns for athletics amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That set a precedent that the other nine Football Bowl Subdivision conferences were compelled to follow — and quickly.
"In the next 72 hours college football is going to come to a complete stop,” one industry source said.
PAT FORDE AND ROSS DELLENGER19 HOURS AGO
High-level conference meetings are being planned for this week across the college football landscape with the expected resolution of postponing fall sports until 2021, multiple sources have told Sports Illustrated.
“It’s gotten to a critical stage,” one conference commissioner told Sports Illustrated Sunday, after a conference call between the heads of the Power 5 conferences. “I think all of us will be meeting with our boards in the coming days. We have work to do that is no fun.”
Dominoes started falling in earnest Saturday when the Mid-American Conference postponed fall sports. The Big Ten followed with an announcement that it was pausing its scheduled progression to full-pads football practices. A well-placed source told SI Saturday, “I think by the end of the week the fall sports will be postponed in all conferences.”
Even that timetable might be accelerated. Sources told SI on Sunday that the Big Ten is moving toward a decision to cancel the 2020 fall season, while engaging other Power 5 conferences on a uniform decision to be announced later this week.
Group of 5 league representatives simultaneously were conferring to align their own timelines, a source said.
Both the Pac-12 and Big 12 have calls with league presidents on Tuesday night that might present the first scheduled opportunity for Power 5 leagues to formally vote on postponement. But other calls could be scheduled earlier.
A Big Ten presidents call to discuss the season was planned for Sunday night, SI confirmed. Conference USA had a call previously scheduled for Wednesday, but that may be moved up, sources said. Sun Belt presidents have a regularly scheduled Tuesday morning meeting, as do AAC athletic directors.
The move toward halting the season comes as a jarring about-face after leagues spent most of the last week finalizing football schedule models and/or releasing schedules. Any momentum toward playing those games was abruptly halted by the MAC's decision to postpone, citing health and safety concerns for athletics amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That set a precedent that the other nine Football Bowl Subdivision conferences were compelled to follow — and quickly.
"In the next 72 hours college football is going to come to a complete stop,” one industry source said.