Tag: Michigan State Football

Locked On Spartans Podcast: College football 2020 is on the brink.

This sucks.

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College football in 2020 is on the brink of elimination. Let’s talk about it.

You can find the episode on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

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Report: Big Ten cancels 2020 college football season

According to sources of the Detroit Free Press, the Big Ten is officially canceling its fall football season.

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And there we have it folks. According to anonymous sources that were in communication with Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press, the Big Ten Conference will be canceling their 2020 college football season amidst safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic in America.

This decision was the result of a 12-2 vote from the Presidents of each Big Ten university on Sunday. Michigan State president Samuel Stanley was one of the presidents who voted in favor of canceling the season.

Multiple Spartans had already opted out of the 2020 season before this decision was made. Indiana offensive lineman Brady Feeney, who is currently suffering from heart conditions related to COVID-19, has been vocal, along with his mother, about the need for college football to take this threat seriously.

This was clearly a huge decision to make, which the conference delayed as long as they possibly could, and it has major financial implications, but at the end of the day the safety of college student-athletes rightfully took precedence over all else.

We will continue updating this story as more information is released and confirmed.

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Report: Michigan State’s Samuel Stanley among voters to cancel Big Ten 2020 football season

Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley is among the many voters to cancel the Big 10 2020 fall football season.

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According to Dan Patrick of the Dan Patrick Show, the Big Ten has voted to cancel the 2020 college football season. A source told Patrick that both the Big Ten and Pac-12 will cancel their respective seasons on Tuesday.

Per Patrick’s source, Big Ten presidents all voted 12-2 to not play this upcoming fall, including MSU president Samuel Stanley. The only two teams to vote in favor of playing were Iowa and Nebraska.

Yesterday, there were already plenty of rumors swirling that the Big Ten would cancel football. No football this fall season is not fun but best for the health and safety of players. Even if this means we have 2021 spring season followed by a 2021 fall season.

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Rumor: Big Ten Conference to cancel College Football this Fall

According to multiple reports, the Big Ten Conference is heavily leaning towards canceling the college football season this fall.

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If there is one word I think we are all getting sick of hearing, it’s ‘uncertainty.’ Well, it looks like some uncertainty surrounding this upcoming college football season might become a real certainty tomorrow, as rumors have swirled Sunday evening that the Big Ten Conference will be canceling the Fall College Football season this week.

According to numerous reports, the Presidents and Chancellors of all the Big Ten Conference schools met tonight along with the Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren to discuss this upcoming season, and according to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, the prevailing sentiment on the call was to cancel the fall season.

Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio also posted a similar report. According to his sources, the Big Ten will most likely be announcing the cancellation of College Football in the Fall on Monday:

While I also have some concerns about pushing the season to the spring and making college players play both a spring and fall season next year, the most immediate need will be to keep players healthy this fall and this seems like a logical way to do that.

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Michigan State Football makes top-6 for 2021 4-star RB Audric Estime

The Spartans made the top-6 for the 4-star running back out of Montvale, New Jersey.

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It has been a bumpy ride on the recruiting trail for new Michigan State Football head coach Mel Tucker in his first offseason. The Spartans have lost a few high profile targets to conference rivals during this recruiting period, and the team could use a big win. Well, that win could be within reach for MSU, as 2021 4-star running back Audric Estime put Michigan State in his top-6 for his recruitment.

Estime is the No. 18 ranked running back in the 2021 recruiting class according to the 247Sports composite rankings. Michigan State currently has an 80% chance of landing Estime according to the 247Sports projections.

Estime also included Nebraska, Arizona State, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, and Rutgers in his top-6, which you can see below:

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Bennie Fowler joined Saints after workout with Emmanuel Sanders, Drew Brees

The New Orleans Saints reunited two former Denver Broncos, Emmanuel Sanders and Bennie Fowler, after Drew Brees put them through their paces

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The NFL is woven together by connections. Connections between coaches who have worked together at the pro and college levels, connections between players who were teammates on different squads — you name it, and it’s probably factored into some shot-caller’s decision-making at some point.

And that might be the case for New Orleans Saints wide receiver Bennie Fowler. The 29-year old free agent signed with the Saints earlier this week following a wave of roster cuts and several opt-outs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, helping round out the depth chart to an NFL-mandated 80 contracts.

But before that, Fowler picked up the phone when Emmanuel Sanders called to invite him to a workout with Drew Brees.

Sanders explained his background with Fowler in a media conference call: “Bennie’s been my boy ever since he came into the Broncos locker room. I took him under my wing and he became my workout buddy. So every Tuesday we would have days off, me and Bennie would meet up at the Broncos facility and throw passes for like an hour and work on our game and work on different mentalities.”

Brees flew into Denver back in June, where Sanders lives and trains during the offseason, and where Fowler still resides after joining the Broncos back in 2014. He spent the last two seasons playing a bit part in the New York Giants offense, but maintains a regular workout schedule with Sanders over the summer. That familiarity just might have helped him land a job.

“And then Drew comes in and Drew says that, like if I could bring another guy it would be good because he wanted to get some extra work in as well,” Sanders recounted. “So I told Bennie, who was a free agent, so it worked out that way. Which is pretty cool because now after every practice, me and him we would stay after, just like we did in Denver, working on our game and catching passes. So it has been cool.”

It’s possible that Brees saw something to like in the fleet-footed Fowler; he was credited with a 4.38-second time in the 40-yard dash at his Michigan State pro day, way back when, but Sanders is quick to insist he’s faster now because he’s a little shorter and lighter than his longtime training partner. Whatever influence Brees may have on who joins the Saints for training camp, Fowler fills a hole now as one of the faster receivers on the team.

Fowler also has a footnote in history as the last NFL player to catch a pass thrown by Peyton Manning, having scored on a two-point conversion in Super Bowl 50. Maybe his experience playing with one NFL legend will help him win a roster spot when paired with another.

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Two more Michigan State Football players opt out of 2020 season

Marcel Lewis and Justin Stevens have opted out of the 2020 Michigan State Football season.

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I am not sure if everyone knew this, but we are in the middle of a pandemic folks. While Michigan State Football started practice on Friday to gear up for the 2020 fall football season, not every player has felt comfortable participating. Recently, offensive lineman Jordan Reid and defensive lineman Jacub Panasiuk opted out of the upcoming season. Today, we found out that two more Spartans will be following suit and opting out of the 2020 season.

These players are true freshman offensive tackle Justin Stevens and sophomore outside linebacker Marcel Lewis. Stevens is a 3-star recruit out of Mississauga, Ontario in Canada and Lewis is a former 3-star recruit from Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township, Michigan.

Both players released statements explaining their positions and reasoning for opting out, which you can read below.

Here is Stevens’ statement:

Here is Lewis’ statement:

While I think we are all looking forward to a potential football season, it is beyond reasonable for college student-athletes to opt-out of a season if they are concerned about their long-term health.

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Report: Big Ten presidents meeting Saturday, fall sports cancelation still on the table

All options are on the table, including cancellation, according to Yahoo!’s Pete Thamel.

Big Ten football this fall is not a full go.

According to Yahoo!’s Pete Thamel, the presidents of Big Ten universities are meeting today to discuss how to proceed with fall sports during the COVID-19 pandemic, with all options on the table.

As Thamel says, momentum is gaining for canceling the fall football season. Earlier Saturday the presidents of the Mid American Conference voted unanimously to cancel fall sports with the plan to move them all to the spring.

While this news is less than comforting to those wanting football this fall, a full cancelation doesn’t seem imminent according to the AP’s Ralph Russo and ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.

So while a decision to scrap the Big Ten season today seems unlikely, there is clearly still concern about playing football this fall at the highest levels of the Big Ten’s 14 members.

The conference has also announced that football practices will not stay on their traditional timeline of a two-day ramp up period to full padded practices. Right now football will be practiced in helmets and shorts for the foreseeable future.

Many Big Ten teams, including Michigan State, began fall camp on Friday. Rutgers is still in a two-week quarantine due to a large COVID-19 outbreak on their team. Northwestern was just cleared to resume workouts after a positive test in their ranks was determined to be a false positive.

We will have more on this story was it develops.

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Big Ten announces football practices will remain with helmets only for now

The Big Ten is tapping the brakes on moving forward with its normal football schedule.

The Big Ten is tapping the brakes on its college football season.

The conference has announced that its member football teams will remain in the first two days of the “acclimatization” period indefinitely, meaning helmets are the only protective equipment allowed at practices. Typically teams will practice in shorts and helmets for two days before advancing to wearing full pads. The Big Ten says this will be the standard, “until further notice.”

Michigan State–like many teams–opened fall camp on Friday in helmets and shorts. The plan, according to head coach Mel Tucker, was to advance to shells–helmets and shoulder pads–for two practices on Sunday and Monday, followed by a day off on Tuesday, and then moving to full pads on Wednesday. That plan is now on hold.

As for a timeline moving forward, the Big Ten said in a release, “As we have consistently stated, we will continue to evaluate daily, while relying on our medical experts, to make the best decisions possible for the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes.”

Other fall sports will continue to, “(W)ork locally with team physicians and athletic trainers to adjust practices to the appropriate level of activity, as necessary, based on current medical protocols.”

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Watch: Michigan State Football’s Mel Tucker mic’d up at first practice

Michigan State held their first official practice of the season on Friday and Mel Tucker was Mic’d Up.

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After some stops and starts due to COVID-19 testing, Michigan State Football’s practices are officially underway. This season will be unique for a number of obvious reasons, but it will also be the first season at MSU for new head coach Mel Tucker. With Tucker’s introduction to the program, the Spartans will have a much different style of leader than Mark Dantonio.

Michigan State fans can get their first look at Tucker in action with this Mic’d Up video of Tucker at the first practice of the season below:

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