President Trump tweets support for college football season as conferences mull cancellation
AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Monday, President Donald Trump used his Twitter account to support playing college football this fall.
Trump retweeted a post from Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with a reference to the #WeWantToPlay movement that several prominent college football players have created in support of the upcoming season.
Trump said in the retweet: “The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled. #WeWantToPlay“
College leaders met on Sunday to discuss the fall sports calendar with talks reportedly heading toward a potential cancellation of all fall sports — including football. The #WeWantToPlay movement was sparked by Michigan defensive back Hunter Reynolds, who was motivated to unite players in a message of a safe return to play with COVID-19 protocols.
“We came to the conclusion, We Want to Play, their message might have been conveyed differently but at the end of the day the message wasn’t too far off from what Big Ten United wanted to promote,” Reynolds told the Associated Press. “Which is we all want to play sports this fall. Every athlete, I’m pretty sure, wants to play their sports. They just want to do so safely.”
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is advocating for a fall season, saying that “we respect the challenge the virus has presented however we will not cower from it” in a statement. Harbaugh included testing numbers from the program to support his argument for football in the fall.
Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey responded to reports of a potentially dashed fall football season, asking for patience during the decision-making process on Monday.
Sankey’s tweets read: “Best advice I’ve received since COVID-19: ‘Be patient. Take time when making decisions. This is all new & you’ll gain better information each day.’ @SEC has been deliberate at each step since March…slowed return to practice…delayed 1st game to respect start of fall semester.”
Best advice I’ve received since COVID-19: “Be patient. Take time when making decisions. This is all new & you’ll gain better information each day.” @SEC has been deliberate at each step since March…slowed return to practice…delayed 1st game to respect start of fall semester..
Additionally, Sankey said on Monday: “Can we play? I don’t know. We haven’t stopped trying. We support, educate and care for student-athletes every day, and will continue to do so…every day.”
Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby told the Associated Press that no decisions on canceling the season were made during Sunday’s meeting.