Players at the American Athletic Conference rushed to accept the message from Trevor Lawrence of Clemson, Justin Fields of Ohio State and other big names in school football on Sunday night about their willingness to play this season.
Monday, K.J. Sails, in cooperation with several AAFC players, adding Brady White of Memphis and Shane Buechele of SMU, composed and disseminated a unity message related to the preference to play this season.
Like the message from Lawrence and others on behalf of the Power Five, Sails and other AAFC players are seeking the ability to shape a player array while addressing the pandemic’s protection and eligibility considerations.
“(What Lawrence did) was wonderful for school football because the players want a voice,” he said after education on Tuesday and hours before Big Ten and Pac-12 delivered the cancellation of fall sports. “We have something to say in gambling this year, so I think in America we take the lead and get our players to talk.”
Although Sails hasn’t commented on the game in the spring, there’s no doubt where he and his teammates are – “they’re all pretty much everything” – when it comes to gambling this fall.
“Many of our players feel like we’re safer here than at home,” he said. “Our medical staff has done a task to ensure our protection and we adhere to the right protocols. We think we have a plan here to play safely and I think we can do it.”
Sails, who left North Carolina and played his first season at the USF in 2019, is someone who does things. On the first Saturday afternoon in June, the senior defensive back and the Tampa home led a unity march in downtown Tampa. On the occasion, virtually all of his teammates and coaches participated, as well as much of the staff of the sports department.
Students-athletes and close workers from the University of Tampa and Tampa Bay Lightning also participated.
“We are moving forward with this movement,” he said of the progress made. “In fact, I’ve noticed that many adjustments are coming. It’s not done. We will have to keep pushing and continue to fight for the message we need to convey.”
Like the message delivered on behalf of football players, Sails needs students-athletes to have a platform where their concerns, whatever they are, are addressed and not eliminated.
In that sense, coach Jeff Scott, whose wife, Sara, gave birth to the couple’s son of the moment on Monday night, noticed after practice last Friday that a team control board had been formed. The board consists of 16 players with the represented positions organization.
“I wanted us to have a voice on the team,” Sails said. “I think it’s a smart resolution for him because now you look at what the players need, what the players want, a little bit what our wardrobe says. It’s wonderful of him and it will be wonderful for the future.”
As for how Scott dealt with the many things he faced as a first-year head coach after a 12-year career as Dabo Swinney’s assistant at Clemson, a career that included a couple of national titles as a co-defensive coordinator, Sails gave excellent reviews.
“It just shows the kind of person he is,” Sails said of the way Scott has resisted, adding that he remained in the most sensible part of his team after the birth of his son, even though he wasn’t on the educational field. “You have to face adversity. You have to look at it, you have to keep moving, you have to keep blowing. I respect that. She had a baby (Monday night) and she concentrates on us working out to make sure they’re smart and making sure we have the right things we want to move forward in education and things like that. He works for us and we really appreciate it.
I have been sports editor since 1990 with corporations such as Beckett Publishing, The Topps Company and Comcast’s Versus network. He was also self-employed.
I have been sports editor since 1990 with corporations such as Beckett Publishing, The Topps Company and Comcast’s Versus network. I have also been an independent journalist for school football, the NHL and MLB. In addition to being part of forbes.com, I do canopy football and basketball for the University of South Florida, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Tampa Bay Lightning for sportstalkflorida.com. I’m also editor of Tampa Bay Business and Wealth magazine. I am a member of the Football Writers Association of America and the National Football Foundation.