“The student-athletes have worked too hard for their season to cancel,” the president tweeted on Monday, adding the hashtag #WeWantToPlay.
Trump’s calls to start college football come amid a growing urge by his administration to get academic institutions – both in primary and higher education – back in the fall. They also come in the afternoon of reports that two of the “Power Five” conferences – the Big Ten and Pac-12 – are expected to cancel their 2020 football season games, according to reports from multiple sports news outlets.
Leaders of the Power Five conferences of college sports discussed the football season and other bankruptcy sports over the weekend. Although the academic year is approaching, no decision has been reached yet. The talks are expected to continue in the coming days.
In his tweets, Trump shared a message from Clemson University football quarterback Trevor Lawrence, one star athlete among a group of college footballers who are pushing for games this fall.
In his message, Lawrence called on the conferences to allow student athletes to play football this season, set up universal protections for health and safety, and allow players to choose for the season, among other measures.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany confirmed Monday afternoon that Trump would like to “watch college football continue” safely.
“Many of these university athletes work their whole lives to get four years; they are sometimes reashirted an extra year if they are lucky. They are working their whole lives for this moment, and he would like to have a chance to have their dreams. to live out, ‘she added.
In June at Clemson, Lawrence’s school, 28 student athletes and staff, including 23 footballers, tested positive for the coronavirus. And nationally, there is a growing list of university athletes who have tested positive for the virus.
Research shows that 1 in 3 young adults (ages 18 to 25) are at risk of severe Covid-19, with smoking playing a large part in their risk level.
And although earlier in the outbreak health experts stressed that older adults were most vulnerable to the coronavirus, the proportion of cases in teens and young adults has increased by sixty, according to the World Health Organization.
Dr Amesh Adalja, a member of the NCAA’s COVID-19 Advisory Panel, told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin Monday afternoon that college football teams face challenges other than the challenges facing professional leagues.
Unlike the NHL and the NBA, Adalja said, student athletes usually do not isolate themselves from their peers at school and compete in a “bubble” shut off from the outside world.
“The bubble seems to be working, but you can’t do that with students, and I think people forget that,” he said. “It’s not necessary for them to be infected on the field, but they bring what they have in the community contracted on the field.”
Last week, the University of Connecticut canceled its 2020 football season amid growing concerns about Covid-19. Last month, Connecticut officially left the American Athletic Conference and the Huskies were judged to compete independently in the Football Bowl Subdivision by 2020.
The National Junior College Athletic Association announced in July that close contact bankruptcy sports, including football, would move to the spring semester.
CNN’s Kevin Dotson and Hollie Silverman contributed to this report.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect UConn’s relationship with the Football Bowl Subdivision.
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