College Football

College Football Players Want To Play

Updated Aug. 10, 2020 5:02 p.m. ET

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Over the past few weeks, college conferences have rescheduled their football seasons in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. One, the MAC, has announced a full postponement. And there are still big questions as Week 0 draws closer.

Despite any uncertainty, however, many college football players expressed their desire to play football this weekend, including Clemson star Qb Trevor Lawrence.

Then, just after midnight ET early Monday morning, Lawrence, Ohio State's Justin Fields, and many others posted a list of several requests on behalf of players in the Power 5 conferences:

Earlier this month, players from the Big Ten and Pac-12 issued separate letters using the hashtag #WeAreUnited to issue requests ahead of the 2020 college football season, saying they could opt out of the season if those calls were not met.

ESPN reported that Sunday evening, players who had tweeted #WeWantToPlay this weekend joined a Zoom call with players from the #WeAreUnited movement to bring the groups together.

In an interesting wrinkle, the graphic shared by Lawrence, Fields and others was designed by Washington State defensive lineman Dallas Hobbs, who was working on a deadline.

In a string of tweets Sunday, Lawrence shared his belief that football would protect players and incentivize them to do their part to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Many agreed with Lawrence's reasoning, such as Alabama QB Mac Jones, who posted his own statement in support of the season on Monday.

Although college football insider Bruce Feldman has reported that the MAC, which has postponed all fall sports with hopes to resume in the spring, will not be sending players home:

"[Kent State coach Sean] Lewis said his team is expected to remain on campus because it’s safe there and they will go forward with hybrid school in the fall. He expects to get more word from the conference on time allowed for team activities each week and how much or how little contact they can have in workouts." (Subscription required for full article.)

Lawrence's comments and the #WeWantToPlay movement come amid reports that commissioners of the Power 5 conferences held a meeting Sunday to discuss the state of the upcoming college football season.

According to ESPN, the ACC is scheduled to meet Monday morning, with the Pac-12 meeting on Tuesday. Big Ten officials reportedly met Saturday, the same day the MAC became the first FBS conference to postpone its season.

One consideration regarding any massive changes is how the reasoning behind the decision would be communicated, Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbick told ESPN:

"My view is if we change course, we better be able to articulate the reason for doing so to our student-athletes."

This is a developing story.

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