CFB Players Union?
Something else interesting came out Sunday night and it was seemingly started by Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and it is the #WeWantToPlay hashtag on Twitter.
#WeWantToPlay pic.twitter.com/jvQhE7noGB
— Trevor Lawrence (@Trevorlawrencee) August 10, 2020
This is a good thing that college football players are banding together to have a voice because they have not had ever really had one. Unfortunately, it took a once in a century pandemic to get the ball rolling.
Players do deserve a voice in what is going on in college football — pandemic or not — but that does not mean they get to force the conversation. Asking for eligibility protection is obviously very good and also standardized safety and testing around COVID-19.
The hashtag is nice and players want to play and fans want to watch and people who make a living covering the game want it to happen. However, that doesn’t mean it should or can take place in a safe manner.
Here's the thing about the #WeWantToPlay hashtag: People insisting they can do whatever they want to do in the middle of a pandemic is precisely why there probably won't be a college football season.
Everybody wants to go do things. It doesn't mean we should.
— Mountain West Wire (@MWCwire) August 10, 2020
There are a lot of reasons to point to why college football should not be played. Just look at Major League Baseball which is playing its schedule as usual with multiple flights and games in different cities. Multiple teams can not even get their games in and the St. Louis Cardinals were going to casinos when traveling.
These are adults, so how are college-aged students going to keep to themselves and not go out and about and just live life. This is not a bubble like the NBA or MLS has done with great success, which is not feasible for the college football season.
Perhaps players are safer on campus and in the dorms interacting with their football team compared to going back home but there is still a high risk in such a physical sport where there is so much contact with each other.
This attempt at unionizing I am all for and is long overdue. Yet, creating a hashtag and getting together does not mean these players can force a college football season to happen. There are doctors, experts, scientists, and a whole lot of other people who know more about COVID-19 and they need to be listened to as well for how to proceed and minimize the risk of getting sick.
My prediction is that the college football season will not be played this fall and there will be another song and dance to try to get something done in the spring, which is not ideal in itself if player safety is being considered.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1360]