The boost of school football players with the hashtag #WeWantToPlay on Twitter and all social media platforms goes beyond the undeniable attempt to save their seasons.
What they mean is #WeWantAVoice.
Players are not only saying the obvious, they don’t need school football to shut down through school presidents and athletics managers because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, they need to play. They say they deserve to have a say in everything that affects their own fitness and future. If players can opt out, why can’t they participate?
“I don’t think we’re looking as much as to join,” Darien Rencher, Clemson’s offensive part, said at a video convention after Tiger practice on Monday.
Rencher and Tigers field marshal Trevor Lawrence, two of the leaders who braided on campus nonviolent protests in aid of Black Lives Matter in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, deviated from what is often a general path for school athletes.
Rencher and Lawrence, along with more sensitive players such as Ohio State Quarterback Justin Fields and Oklahoma State runner Chuba Hubbard, appeared on the cover of a Night Zoom assembly on Sunday that marked the trend #WeWantToPlay. This came after reports that the Big Ten and Pac-12 assemblies were about to cancel their seasons.
“It was more urgent yesterday, with all the news and hearing about the Big Ten,” Lawrence said Monday. “We thought, ‘Dude, we have to do anything temporarily and we have to do anything that makes other people read it and pay attention’ because we felt that all the momentum was going the wrong way.”
“In terms of football,” Rencher said, “we have presented our last Hail Mary.”
In addition to being able to play football during the pandemic, they pushed for a mandatory security protocol for all conferences, to ensure that a year of eligibility is not lost for players who decide to take time off and eventually create an agreement. school footballers. to communicate with the school and NCAA officials.
Opinion: College football leaders understand it with season on edge
More: Mountain West might not play fall school football season
“The decisions that are made on our behalf have a huge effect on us,” Lawrence said. «… Clearly, we know there has to be a chain of command. We’re not the last word and we don’t make the decision. But I think it makes you imagine making more important decisions when we perceive them and perceive ourselves.
“We honestly perceive that (athletics managers and school presidents) have a difficult job,” Rencher said. “But I feel like there’s a damaged chain of command. They don’t listen to us and we don’t listen to them. I think we can all come together.”
A player’s arrangement looks like a union. You can’t call it that because they’re not employees. But whatever the name, Clemson’s coach Dabo Swinney agreed it was a smart idea.
“I think it would be wonderful to have a player association,” Swinney said. “It’s another one from a union. I’m going to say that. Array… I’m very proud of our boys and they set the tone and they looked for a season.”
A player’s disposition may result in other changes, such as player compensation.
“I’m totally in favor of things that can be just for school athletes on the road, reimbursement and everything else,” Rencher said. “But I think there’s a time and a place. Arrangement… To replace this school football game, I think we have to play the game first.”
Publications #WeWantToPlay gained high-level support. President Donald Trump tweeted a message from Lawrence again, adding: “Student-athletes have also worked to have their season canceled. #WeWantToPlay.”
“The one on social media,” Rencher said.
One of the highest vital recommendations received from Arkansas Director of Sport Hunter Yurachek published: “On behalf of the @RazorbackFB team (which includes my son) and the @ArkRazorbacks students-athletes I represent, serve, support, care, combat for and love, #WeWantToPlay.”
Yuracheck was the first sporting director to publicly claim his for the player’s movement. They will want to create a wave of school principals and politicians to achieve the desired result.
But if players can save the school football season, it may not just be a hashtag. This would be the beginning of a new globalization of university athletics.
“I believe that each and every generation has a duty to make changes,” Rencher said. “We need to make changes.”