Anyone who felt the Pac-12 athletes of #WeAreUnited had overplayed their hand or had bungled their initial statement need to step back and reconsider.
Per Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated, Larry Scott sent an e-mail Wednesday night to the #WeAreUnited group, proposing a Zoom call at 8 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday night to discuss the demands made by Pac-12 athletes.
One would certainly assume the athletes will accept the invitation and participate in the call. Dellenger reported the following as well:
“The proposed call would include Scott, ASU athletic director Ray Anderson, Utah athletic director Mark Harlan and Pac-12 assistant commissioner Chris Merino, the league’s liaison to student-athlete groups.”
A portion of Scott’s e-mail to the #WeAreUnited athletes contained the following notes:
“I wanted to share with you in advance of our call some background materials—including an announcement made by the NCAA Board of Governors earlier today (Wednesday)—that I believe are directly responsive to some of the topics and concerns that you have raised, and that will help inform our initial conversation.”
Dellenger wrote that Scott will offer more details on health and safety guidelines in the Thursday call, should it happen.
I recently talked to Arizona State offensive lineman Cody Shear, one of the media contacts for the #WeAreUnited group, about Sunday’s letter in the Players Tribune and what it means for this movement among Pac-12 athletes. I will post portions of the conversation I had with him on Thursday here at Trojans Wire. Without giving away too much of that interview — you will get direct quotes on Thursday in a series of posts — a central point Cody Shear wanted to make is that he and his fellow athletes wanted a place at the table, a chance to negotiate with the Pac-12 and the power brokers in college sports.
That is a central goal of #WeAreUnited, and I don’t think anyone can reasonably dispute that.
Assuming this call does happen Thursday night, the Pac-12 athletes will have already achieved a fundamental goal. One can only wonder how much the landscape of college sports will change in the months and years ahead.