Tag: we want to play

The Big Ten shifts – decides to play football this fall, kickoff scheduled for Oct. 24

What will Big Ten football look like this fall and how will it compare to the SEC and ACC? Details and analysis here.

The Big Ten made news in early August when league officials decided to cancel all fall sports – including of course, schools’ biggest money-maker, football.

Now, in an official statement Wednesday, the conference announced that they are restarting the fall football season and will return to kickoff set for the weekend of Aug. 23rd.

They have scheduled an 8-game, conference-only season in eight weeks, two games fewer than the SEC’s 2020 slate, with no bye-weeks.

Per the Big Ten:

“The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) adopted significant medical protocols including daily antigen testing, enhanced cardiac screening and an enhanced data-driven approach when making decisions about practice/competition. The COP/C voted unanimously to resume the football season starting the weekend of October 23-24, 2020.”

It seems that the league office gave-in to the immense pressures to reconsider their decision to cancel football from coaches, players and their families.

There are currently over 300,000 signatures on the We Want To Play movement’s petition to the Big Ten’s original decision, popularized mostly by former Georgia quarterback, now Ohio State Buckeye Heisman hopeful Justin Fields

The real question is now, what will Big Ten football look like compared to that of the SEC? They start a month later and, as mentioned earlier,  have an eight-game lineup in eight weeks with no byes.

Plus, the Big Ten’s policy for an athlete testing positive for Covid-19 is a minimum quarantine of 21 days. So, one outbreak and your season is thrown way off the rails.

Per the Big Ten:

“The earliest a student-athlete can return to game competition is 21 days following a COVID-19 positive diagnosis.”

Add the lay off after the season cancellation and Big Ten teams start at a disadvantage. However, Ohio State should have a straight shot to the playoff because of opt-outs from athletes of programs like Maryland and Michigan State.

Truly an unprecedented time for everyone right now. Check back for more updates as more news regarding the Big Ten’s decision rolls in.

 

 

 

 

Justin Fields shares petition you can sign to reinstate Big Ten football season

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields is taking things into his own hands, sharing a petition to reinstate the fall Big Ten season. Sign it.

The #WeWantToPlay movement is continuing, and it now has a champion to carry the torch with the latest from Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields.

The Heisman finalist and Big Ten Player of the Year has been very vocal about his competitive drive and desire to play this year at Ohio State, and not in the spring, but during the fall when he and his teammates can compete for a national championship with a ten-game Big Ten schedule.

And now Fields is taking it further.

Sunday morning, the projected first-round 2021 NFL Draft choice shared a petition that asks the Big Ten to overturn its decision to postpone the fall football season in 2020. It is addressed to Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren, Big Ten university presidents, and Big Ten athletic directors.

“We, the football players of the Big Ten, together with the fans and supporters of college football, request that the Big Ten Conference immediately reinstate the 2020 football season. Allow Big Ten players/teams to make their own choice as to whether they wish to play or opt out this fall season. Allow Big Ten players/teams who choose to opt out of playing a fall season to do so without penality or repercussion,” the petition reads.

The petition also a statement on why signing the petition is important:

“We want to play. We believe that safety protocols have been established and can be maintained to mitigate concerns of exposure to Covid 19. We believe that we should have the right to make decisions about what is best for our health and our future. Don’t let our hard work and sacrifice be in vain. #LetUsPlay!”

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As of noon Sunday, the petition has already collected over 10,000 signatures, and it’s headed for many, many more.

You too can sign the petition and help the cause if you believe that the Big Ten season should be reinstated for the fall of 2020.

 

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Georgia football players take to Twitter to try and save CFB season

Following the postponement of the Big Ten and PAC-12 football seasons, Georgia football players took to Twitter to express their opinions.

Following the somber news of the Big Ten and PAC-12 postponing their fall sports due to COVID-19 safety concerns, a number of Georgia football players took to Twitter in an attempt to voice their opinions on playing this season.

Malik Herring, James Cook, Jamaree Salyer and Justin Shaffer were some of the Dawgs players who tweeted out the trending movement among athletes: #WeWantToPlay.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart supported his players stance and gave them retweets on their posts.

The 2020 college football season could be hard to salvage with two of the five Power Five conferences opting out of the season, but that isn’t stopping players from expressing themselves.

With Big Ten postponing its season, could Justin Fields consider a return to UGA?

With the Big Ten and PAC-12 postponing their seasons, could we see Ohio State QB Justin Fields make a return to Georgia football?

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The Big Ten announced its decision to postpone all fall sports according to their official website. The Big Ten is the first Power Five conference to make this decision.

The Big Ten Conference announced the postponement of the 2020-21 fall sports season, including all regular-season contests and Big Ten Championships and Tournaments, due to ongoing health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just minutes after, the PAC-12 also made the decision to postpone its 2020 season.

Former Georgia quarterback Justin Fields, who transferred to Ohio State after his freshman season at UGA, has been a big advocate of letting the players play this season.

The Big Ten’s star quarterback will now have to wait until at least the spring to play football this year at Ohio State.

Fields expressed his distaste in the conference’s decision on Tuesday afternoon via Twitter.

With the SEC still set to have their season (for now), experts have already been speculating the potential of seeing Fields transfer back to UGA.  This is a long shot, but Georgia beat writer for Athens Banner-Herald Marc Weiszer reminded everyone that then OC James Coley and head coach Kirby Smart told Fields he would always have a sport at Georgia.

Fields is a Kennesaw, GA native and was likely entering the final year of his college career before heading to the NFL Draft.  If the SEC keeps its season alive, Georgia would most likely be the No.1 landing spot for Fields, should he transfer.

Fields had an incredible sophomore season at Ohio State, throwing for 3,273 yards, 41 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions.  He was a Heisman Trophy finalist and made it to the College Football Playoff, losing by six to the Clemson Tigers in the semifinals.

Georgia already has two transfer quarterbacks in Jamie Newman and J.T. Daniels, but the addition of a Heisman finalist definitely wouldn’t hurt.  There are no reports of Fields actually making the switch back to Georgia, just speculations.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey shares thoughts on 2020 college football season

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey shares his thoughts on the 2020 college football season on the Dan Patrick Show.

With COVID-19 threatening the fate of college football, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey took to the Dan Patrick Show Tuesday morning to share his thoughts on the SEC’s 2020 football season.

“We have a start date… I’d be encouraged by that. … We have a schedule… I’d be encouraged by that. … We’re still here today. On Sunday, if I read social media I would have thought (it was over),” Sankey said on the show.

Sankey was asked about his feelings in regards to how likely SEC football will be played in the fall.

“It is a roller coaster ride,” said Sankey. “Today is probably better. We have made decisions to avoid some of the time pressures that I sense others are feeling.”

With the Big Ten postponing all fall sports (including football), other conferences have now felt heavy pressure to follow suit.  Sankey explained how the SEC has been preparing for their season differently than other Power 5 conferences.

“We’ve not had our players in helmets and pads for full practices,” he said. “We’ve spread our pre-season preparation out. We have moved our kickoff back to allow universities to get back to kind of a normal fall semester order, and some time to have things settle out.”

On the matter of possibly adopting a non-SEC team into the SEC for the season, Sankey replied: “…that’s not quite practical.”

“I felt good on Friday, and then a little tumult over the weekend,” said Sankey on his outlook for the season. “We are going to keep working to see if we can provide opportunities for student-athletes to compete.”

“Every day we learn a little bit more. It is not simply going to be a guiding moment if another conference makes a decision, but a piece of information a lot this journey.”

Sankey said it could be possible, but is unlikely the SEC would play on their own in 2020.

“I don’t think that is the right direction really. Could we? Certainly … We could, if that were the circumstance, operate on our own. I am not sure that’s the wisest direction.”

There is a lot up in the air surrounding this decision, as more and more will unravel in the coming weeks.  From the looks of it, Sankey and the SEC leaders will do everything in their power to have football in 2020, but nothing is guaranteed.

BREAKING: Big Ten presidents vote to postpone football season

There will be no Big Ten football this fall.

There will be no Big Ten football played this fall.

According to multiple reports the Big Ten has voted to postpone the fall sports season–including football–with hopes of playing in the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Detroit Free Press’ Chris Solari was the first to report the news.

The Big Ten has yet to formally make an announcement at the time of publishing.

Power brokers from the conference have been meeting the last few days to decide the fate of the conference’s biggest moneymaking sport. It was reported on Sunday that cancelation was impending and on Monday it was reported that the decision had been finalized. However a last-ditch effort from the Big Ten players and coaches attempted to save the season, with multiple parties throwing their weight behind the effort, including President Donald Trump.

The effort has reportedly come up short with the conference’s decision to delay the decision that the health risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic were too much to overcome. We will have more on this story as it develops.

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SEC, Georgia still optimistic on playing football in 2020

The Southeastern Conference is still optimistic on playing football in 2020, following the news of the Big Ten suspending all fall sports.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the Big Ten elected to cancel all fall sports in 2020, that including the college football season.

The Big Ten has voted 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 confirmed to the Free Press.

The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the decision. A formal announcement is expected to Tuesday, the sources said.

The presidents voted, 12-2, Sunday to end the fall sports in the conference.

ESPN college football insider Kirk Herbstreit cleared up reports coming out Monday by saying the conference will be delaying the season start, not cancelling it completely.

With news of a Power 5 conference halting the start of the 2020 season, it has felt as though the remaining four (SEC, ACC, PAC-12, Big 12) would soon follow.  Now, that might not be the case.

SEC leaders, who like the Big Ten leaders also met over a digital conference call on Monday, seemed to have a more positive outlook on the season starting up.

Commissioner of the SEC, Greg Sankey, released an optimistic statement via Twitter on Monday saying: “Can we play? I don’t know. We haven’t stopped trying.”

“I’ll just say I think Greg Sankey’s comment is spot on,” Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said Monday. “His statement says it all, and I certainly stand by it. It summarizes where we all stand.”

Georgia athletic employees made their return to the offices this Monday, still set for the delayed 10-game start date of September 26th.  Reports seem as though the ACC and SEC will work together in doing everything in their power to have a season in 2020.  A number of the two conferences biggest stars, including Clemson’s quarterback Trevor Lawrence, took to their platforms saying they want to play.

Lawrence hit on the fact that America is already not following COVID-19 guidelines, as well as many student athletes “coming from situations that are not good for them/their future and having to go back to that.”

“…Medical care and expenses will be placed on the families if they were to contract COVID-19.” said Lawrence. “…Football is a safe haven for so many people.”

The University of Georgia is set to return to in-person instruction starting August 20th.  Nothing is set in stone for the remaining Power 5 conferences, but there will be a lot of news released in the upcoming weeks regarding the fate of the 2020 college football season.

Oklahoma kicker cites risks of CTE opposed to COVID-19 in effort to play

Oklahoma kicker Gabe Brkic has joined countless athletes in the movement to continue with the college football season

Oklahoma kicker Gabe Brkic has joined countless athletes in the movement to continue with the college football season.

College football is currently up in the air. With the Big Ten reportedly set to cancel their season soon, and the Pac-12 to follow, there isn’t much certainty to the 2020 season.

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence snapped into action, and along with plenty of others, has been cultivating the “#WeWantToPlay” movement on social media.

The Sooner’s sophomore kicker jumped in to express his thoughts on Twitter Monday, tweeting “We play football every year risking CTE…which ruins lives. Not too scared of Covid #WeWantToPlay”

A finalist for the Lou Groza award in 2019, Brkic finished his freshman campaign a perfect 17-for-17 on field goals, as well as 52-for-52 on extra points. He was the only kicker in 2019 to make every attempt.

The redshirt sophomore was also named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team, as well as the Sporting News Preseason All-American First Team. Brkic joins Adrian Ealy, Creed Humphrey, Ronnie Perkins and Charleston Rambo on the Preseason All-Big 12 roster.

Auburn QB Bo Nix: Players ‘are safer playing a football season’

The Auburn quarterback tweeted out his support for a 2020 college football season.

Count Bo Nix as one person who thinks a college football season should happen this fall.

On Monday evening, the Auburn quarterback took to Twitter to join in the We Want To Play movement that so many college football players and coaches have joined over the past 24 hours.

Many other stars of the game including Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State’s Justin Fields have shared the same message and hashtag. Alabama quarterback Mac Jones also joined in, tweeting out a message in support of having a college football season.

On Monday, it was reported that the Big Ten has decided to cancel its 2020 season while the Mountain West confirmed that its season was canceled.

LOOK: Alabama football players tweet ‘#WeWantToPlay’

Alabama football players tweet about the #WeWantToPlay movement in support of playing in the 2020 college football season.

The #WeWantToPlay movement has gone viral among college football players, as the threat of a cancelled 2020 season lingers throughout tweets and headlines of high profile journalists, media personalities and news outlets.

Alabama players are now taking a stand on social media by using the hashtag. While there has not been any news surrounding the SEC’s 2020 plans, the athletes stand united.

Here’s what members of the Crimson Tide had to say:

Alabama quarterback Mac Jones, who is not often on social media, tweeted the hashtag.

Najee, who was involved in the creation of the movement, also included a picture with a list of demands by the student athletes.

Tight end Miller Forristall argues that the Alabama football facility will be the safest place for the players when the school year begins.

Offensive lineman Landon Dickerson is in his final year of eligibility and decides to point out potential hypocrisy in the decision-making process.

Alabama’s sophomore kicker Will Reichard suffered a hip injury that hindered his freshman year, after nursing it back to health and training in the offseason, he fears it may all go to waste.

Defensive back Brandon Turnage makes sure his voice is heard.

These are just a few players at Alabama that made their voices heard on social media.

Roll Tide Wire will keep you updated on the state of the 2020 college football season and what plans are made by the SEC or the University of Alabama.