Just when you think the book is closed, a new chapter in the story of the postponement of the Big Ten of the college football season 2020 seems to be written.
Sunday morning, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields sent a tweet with a link to his petition to resume college football in the Big Ten for the fall.
The petition reads: ‘We, the Big Ten footballers, together with the fans and supporters of college football, ask to start the Big Ten conference the 2020 football season immediately. Allow the Big Ten players / teams to make their own choice whether they want to play or pick them up this fall. Allow the Big Ten players / teams who choose to play a fall season to do so without penalty or reclassification. “
Under the first paragraph, a header is explained, “why this is important.” It reads:
‘We want to play. We believe that safety protocols have been established and can be maintained to reduce COVID-19 exposure concerns. We believe we need to make the right decisions about what is best for our health and our future. Let our hard work and sacrifice not be delayed. #LetUsPlay! ”
Within an hour of Fields’ tweet, the petition had received 50,000 signatures, and as of Monday morning, it had 233,753 signatures. Over the past 24 hours, the set target for total signatures has been steadily increasing and is currently set at a mark of 300,000.
The petition is specifically addressed to Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren, Big Ten University presidents and Big Ten athletic directors. Below the page of the petition is a comment section where those who have signed the petition can give their reasons for signing.
At the same time, a number of Big Ten parents began talking about their desire to play with their children this fall. Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State and Nebraska parents were the primary forces of this parent-driven movement and brought letters to the conference addressing their concerns and pressures on re-establishing football.
While the parents acknowledged the risk of their children playing football this fall, they wrote, “the fact that the Big Ten and the Council of Presidents took this decision without input from those who actually take those risks is appalling.” They are leading the conference to repair ‘the traffic’ and reconsider this fall with players at the forefront of those decisions.
Players and parents from Northwest have expressed their feelings via social media leading up to and after the conference decision, but there has not yet been a similar mass movement in the Wildcat program. However, the movement of parents and player-driven efforts are quickly gaining traction among all Big Ten schools.
Given how much chaos the Big Ten has already passed on, it is unlikely that the actions of Fields and the parents will actually change the already made decision of the conference leaders. However, Fields holds a lot of sway as one of the best players in all of college football, and it is clear that his move is well supported by fans of the sport.
