players speak out

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Auburn players speak out with season hanging in balance

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

5-6 minutes

For too long, college athletes have gone without much of a say in anything; they’ve gone without a seat at the table as decisions about their sports have been made by those in power.

In this new age of athlete empowerment that has emerged in recent months, and with their season hanging in the balance, more players than ever are beginning to speak up and make sure their voices are heard. That includes those at Auburn, with several taking to social media in the last couple of days to speak out on the fate of the 2020 football season, which appears on the brink as conferences weigh whether to cancel or postpone the season until the spring amid health and safety concerns arising from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Auburn quarterback Bo Nix was one of the first to join in the discussion late Sunday night, when he tweeted the “#WeWantToPlay” hashtag that so many athletes nationwide already posted. That hashtag and movement, spearheaded by superstar players such as Ohio State’s Justin Fields and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, eventually led to a graphic disseminated just before midnight from players across each of the Power 5 conferences with a reasonable list of demands that highlight both their desire to play this season amid the pandemic as well as their concerns about safety and health protocols heading into the year.

The graphic, which was designed by Washington State defensive lineman Dallas Hobbs and includes a call for “universal mandated health and safety procedures and protocols” to protect players throughout the NCAA , was also shared by Auburn freshman offensive lineman Tate Johnson on Monday afternoon. Though Johnson was the first Auburn player to tweet out the graphic himself, he was hardly the only Tiger to express his desire to play this season in hopes of swaying those who ultimately make the decision.

“Thanks to the support of the ENTIRE Auburn administration, we are safer playing a football season,” Nix tweeted Monday afternoon. “We have worked out entire lives to get to where we are now. Don’t let it go to waste. We need football. Listen to the players. #WeWantToPlay.”

Nix was the most prominent voice on Auburn’s roster to speak up as the 2020 season has dangled by a thread, with the MAC and WAC already canceling their seasons and reports surfacing the last two days that the Big 10 is moving toward a similar decision. The SEC, meanwhile, appears intent on moving forward with its plans to play, with commissioner Greg Sankey tweeting out a thread on Monday that included this snippet saying “Can we play? I don’t know. We haven’t stopped trying.”

“All I know is I’m ready to grind, no matter what they say,” junior receiver Anthony Schwartz tweeted Sunday before joining in with a follow-up on Monday that included the #WeWantToPlay hashtag, as well as another tweet expressing frustration at those who have refused to wear face covering over the last several months as the pandemic has continued to spread.

Senior defensive lineman Big Kat Bryant also chimed in, tweeting that college players “are young men, not kids” while implying they should have a say in the looming decisions about the season.

“Every day it’s something new, man,” junior running back Shaun Shivers tweeted Sunday night. “We ready to play, man.”

Other Auburn players, including linebacker Zakoby McClain, have not explicitly tweeted about the movement themselves but have retweeted others who have chimed in on the matter.

“It’s funny seeing so many people have opinions on what we should do, especially when they are so blatantly wrong,” offensive lineman Kam Stutts posted.

Sophomore defensive lineman Jaren Handy added a different perspective to consider when he quote-tweeted Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill, who made a point about the security and structure that being on campus provides some players, saying that he doesn’t want to go home if the season is canceled because not all players come from steady backgrounds or favorable situations in their hometowns. Handy, a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., added, “I never go home.”

Meanwhile, senior linebacker Chandler Wooten, who last week opted out of the 2020 season due to the upcoming birth of his first child, made a pointed criticism about the seemingly sudden discussions of canceling the season after leagues recently announced adjusted schedules. The timing of those discussions, it seems, are interesting given some of the bullet-points included in the #WeAreUnited X #WeWantToPlay graphic, such as the call to ultimately establish a college football players’ association.

“If it was about safety, nobody would’ve started camp,” Wooten tweeted.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group.

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Have any high school players commented yet?  Because, ironically I guess, if some top high school athletes state they may de-commit from a B1G school if they opt out may have more weight than kids already in the schools. Well, transfer portal has to be considered too i guess.