CHAMPAIGN — Six days ago, the Big Ten announced Illinois would kick off its 2020 football season against powerhouse Ohio State.
As soon as today, the league is expected to announce whether there will be any football at all this fall.
After a weekend of rumors and reports, the Big Ten could be the first Power Five conference to cancel or postpone its fall sports.
“At this juncture, we’re still under discussion,” Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones said during a virtual meeting with the board of trustees Monday. “We will certainly let you know as soon as a final decision has been made. It’s still under discussion.
“There are discussions that have been going on the last several days, started at 7 o’clock this morning and is still going on. … I think we all realize that COVID-19 is a situation that creates an environment where almost every day we are taking in information, digesting that information and trying to resolve, on an ongoing basis, the status of a number of activities.”
Amid conflicting reports, a common theme — particularly from players and coaches across the conference — was a desire to play.
The hashtag #WeWantToPlay was trending nationally on Twitter, with even President Donald Trump weighing in.
The #WeWantToPlay hashtag has been accompanied on Twitter by a graphic created by Washington State defensive lineman Dallas Hobbs. It includes the logos of all five Power Five conferences at the top with an additional #WeAreUnited hashtag and then its platform — the desire to play this fall, universal procedures and protocols to protect athletes from COVID-19, the opportunity to opt out of the season and retain eligibility, and the ultimate goal of creating a college football players association to ensure those voices are heard in similar discussions.
Several Illinois football players shared the #WeWantToPlay hashtag, including team captains Jake Hansen and Doug Kramer.
“We want to play!” Illini veteran wide receiver Trevon Sidney tweeted Sunday. “If the NCAA or at least every conference just had guidelines that everyone follows, student-athletes would be safer on campus playing than we would be if no season! Testing (two times) a week staying around the same people is better than going home not testing (and) hanging out.”
Sidney continued his line of thought Monday, tweeting: “If they decide to cancel the season there also needs to be a plan! Can’t just be it’s canceled and can’t answer questions! When are we playing? What does this mean for seniors? Are you talking to the NFL (and) seeing if they can push back draft, combine, pro days?
“There’s a lot to this! Also if there is no season there also shouldn’t be in person class. Being around the same 100-200 people (and) can’t play, but 40-50 thousand people can go to class. (And) they’re regular students so you can’t expect them not to go to bars, hang out with friends, etc. And this is safe?”
Multiple Big Ten coaches, although not Illinois’ Lovie Smith, addressed the idea of a canceled season publicly Monday afternoon.
Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh took to Twitter with a lengthy note on why he believed playing this fall was safe. Both Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Penn State’s James Franklin also tweeted in support of their teams playing this fall.
Nebraska coach Scott Frost shared a similar sentiment during a press conference Monday that the Cornhuskers were committed to playing this fall, “no matter what that looks like and how that looks. We want to play, no matter who it is or where it is.”
“We feel and I feel 100 percent certain that the safest place for our players in regards to coronavirus is right here, where there’s structure, where there’s testing, where there’s medical supervision,” Frost added. “Where they have motivation to make smart decisions to stay away from the virus because if they don’t, they’re going to lose what they love and lose their opportunity to play football.
“The virus is here either way, and I would contend our players are safer here doing what they love to do and being monitored and screened constantly than they would be if we sent them home.”
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August 11, 2020 at 08:00PM
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Official word still to come on 2020 Big Ten football - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette
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