With the college football season reportedly on the verge of being postponed, athletes from across the Power 5 conferences have joined forces to give themselves a voice in what happens next – with the goal of eventually forming a union. Several players from across the Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC, Big 12, and ACC who want to play this season shared a flyer on social media on Sunday calling for a universal standard of health and safety to protect athletes during the coronavirus pandemic, while also stating that its goal is to “eventually create an association for football players.”
Earlier in August, a group of hundreds of Pac-12 athletes announced that they would retire next season if the conference did not meet a list of requirements, including protection against the virus and revenue sharing. A chorus of athletes reiterated the concerns, including a group in the Big Ten that created their own show of unity after the Pac-12. Other college footballers responded with a seemingly separate move – indicated by a hashtag “We Want To Play” on Twitter – but on Sunday, all athletes made it clear that they intend to perform collectively, as college football seeks the next step out. to find.
“Going forward, what we really want to be able to do is create a legitimate voice for the athletes in these great conferences,” Cal offensive lineman Valentino Daltoso said Sports Illustrated every Sunday. Daltoso was one of the players who helped coordinate Pac # 12’s “#WeAreUnited” movement earlier this month.
According to Daltoso, a large network had already been created after he and others were in contact with players from other conferences in the days immediately following the announcement of the Pac-12 group. Players in the Big Ten announced on August 5 their own dissatisfaction with the NCAA’s lack of pandemic plan, adding the conference should record player input before making its own proposal. Communication among college football players had already happened at a national level when the hashtag “We Want To Play” began to pop up on social media on Sunday, apparently as a reaction to players threatening to take it out. Daltoso said players from across all Power 5 conferences participated in multiple conversations over the weekend and realized they were on the same page. The final push came from a Zoom call Sunday night with a few representatives from each conference.
“Something we’re been stressing from the start is that we want to play,” said Daltoso of the Pac-12 group. ‘People tried to place this separation between us. We are all together in this. We are united in power 5. Everyone at the moment can come together and say that we need uniform health and safety guidelines as we move forward with this season. ”
In essence, although the Pac-12 group calls for greater reform, for now, the group across all conferences is primarily concerned with the handling (or lack thereof) of the coronavirus pandemic across the NCAA. Conferences themselves make decisions about health and safety practices. And there is no third-party oversight to ensure that protocols that schools review are actually implemented – whether it sounds the most medical or not. Daltoso says he always wanted to play, but only if the players have a say in the process, and can establish appropriate safeguards.
“I think everyone can agree that the players need a legitimate voice in the way of creating one kind of association for college players,” Daltoso said.
One of the more prominent players supporting the club’s establishment is Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The Tigers star tweeted Sunday that he believed it would be safer for many players to be on campus and participate in football as opposed to canceling the season. Many believed his remarks were in opposition to the stated goals of the Pac-12 and Big Ten groups. Sunday night, Lawrence shared the announcement calling for universal health standards and the eventual establishment of a union. Lawrence’s teammate, Clemson, who ran Darien Rencher back, tweeted that he and Lawrence were on the Zoom call uniting the conferences “into one collective voice.”
The most recent example of college footballers trying to unite took place in 2014, when athletes at Northwestern drew unique cards in hopes of being recognized as school staff. The bid failed when the NLRB denied jurisdiction over the case. Kain Colter, the former Wildcats quarterback who leads the school’s union, told SI in June that he believed football players could still unite if they formed a large enough coalition.
‘I would advise them to speak to a common employee about where it does not specify the individual institution. Say they are also employees of the conference, like the NCAA itself, and it would open the negotiating unit, ”Colter told SI. ‘It would confront every pushback we got [our union] just Northwestern. If you could get a joint employer ruling, you might want to let it work. ”
Whether the current growth of athletes hoping to unite it to that level – or how serious this push really is – may depend on whether there is a season or not. SI reported on Sunday that the Power 5 conferences are getting closer to canceling fall sports. It is possible that the NCAA hopes it can wait for the players’ need for a union by suppressing sports until coronavirus measures are not so great of a concern.
The Pac-12 did not respond positively to the demands of their athletes, according to Daltoso. Conference commissioner Larry Scott met with her players after her announcement, and Daltoso says that in a meeting that was entirely focused on measures for coronavirus, “very little progress has been made.” The NCAA will almost certainly want to prevent athletes from incurring costs, because a union would open the door for players to be considered employees – and start getting paid.
At the moment it appears as if there will be one kind of season of college football, it will not happen without input from the players.
“We are so much stronger when we are united across conferences,” Daltoso said. “This will be a bigger, more cohesive effort. This does not stop tomorrow. This will take a lot of work, but a lot of guys are behind it. ”
.
