Just three days after players from the Pac-12 made a similar move, Big Ten players have also expressed concerns about the measures put in place to protect the health and safety of student-athletes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The “Unity Proposal” put together in partnership with the College Athlete Unity and The Players’ Tribune doesn’t go as far as the Pac-12 version in threatening to shut things down, but it does call for further protections to be put in place on the heels of the Big Ten’s release of a conference-only football schedule for 2020.
“While we appreciate the Big Ten’s recently announced plan for the upcoming season, we believe that the conference’s proposal falls short in certain areas,” Big Ten players said in a statement published through The Players Tribune. “Given that the players are the primary stakeholders in the business of college sports, we believe any course of action moving forward needs to include player input. We are deeply disappointed with the lack of leadership demonstrated by the NCAA with respect to player safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that the NCAA must — on its own and through collaboration with the conference — devise a comprehensive plan to ensure the safety and well-being of players leading up to and during the upcoming fall season.”
A group of more than 1,000 Big Ten football players is calling on the conference and the NCAA to devise a comprehensive plan to ensure the safety and well-being of players leading up to and during the upcoming fall season. #BigTenUnitedhttps://t.co/C8gt2Fddbs
— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) August 5, 2020
It should be noted, the Big Ten did release its COVID-19 medical protocols at the same time as the schedule release, with many of the demands from the Unity Proposal already included, but there are some that are not a part of what over 1,000 players have expressed concerns over.