Pac-12 Players Ready to Revolt; 2020's FBS Season Officially under Siege

Published on 2-Aug-2020 by Alan Adamsson

Football - NCAA    NCAA Football Daily Update

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Pac-12 Players Ready to Revolt; 2020's FBS Season Officially under Siege

If ever there was a year to see this coming, it's now.

And if anyone's under the impression this is just a West Coast kinda thing, they're mistaken.

2020 is clearly the Year from Hell. Is it any wonder that there are some who are trying to salvage some common sense out of it?

The only question was who'd be the first to speak up.

 

Maybe the Ivy League teams will never make the College Football Playoffs as they're currently constructed, but they're known for making decisions based on science and reality.

One of them was cashing in the Fall 2020 sports season a month ago.

How would players and programs in similar situations not take that seriously?

Rhetorical question. Some have, and it's inevitable the list is gonna grow.

 

Sooner or later, it was also a foregone conclusion that a group of players themselves was gonna draw up a list of their own.

Now, the Pac-12 gridsters -- a few hundred of them, at least -- have done just that, and they figured the time was right to air everything out:

  • Health and safety: Players want COVID-19 liability waivers to be prohibited and universal safety measures. They're also seeking medical insurance for six years post-eligibility.
  • Protect All Sports: Saving minor-revenue programs by reining in crazy spending on coaches, perks, and facilities.
  • Social justice: Demanding that the Pac-12 form a permanent, civic-engagement task force to address social injustice.
  • Revenue redistribution: Demanding 50% of each sport's revenue to be evenly distributed among athletes.

 

Do know the Pac-12ers aren't knee-jerking. They came to their position after conducting considerable research and group discussions.

Here's an example of how thoroughly they got into it:

  • They traced the origin of the term student-athlete to a worker's compensation case in 1955.
  • NCAA President at the time Walter Byers coined it to distinguish college jocks from employees for the purpose of claiming they weren't entitled to worker benefits.

The NCAA won, and a legal precedent was set.

For the record, the player -- Ray Dennison of Fort Lewis A&M -- died from his injuries caused by being kicked in the head.

 

In essence, then, the Pac-12 players have sourced what, legally, amounts to the original sin of denying college athletes the right to be compensated for the revenues they generate for their programs. Notably, those revenues far exceed the cost of scholarships and training tables at the FBS level.

No one should argue that they have a right to be kept safe from social threats like pandemics. What's that going to cost, and how do universities propose to keep the players separated to student life at large? Bubbles on that level are virtually unworkable.

Worse, what happens if a player actually dies or is debilitated long-term from Covid-19 complications?

What athletic program or institution of higher learning wants to risk even a chance of this happening?

 

This scenario isn't far-fetched. The federal government's total botchfest of its response to an ominous health threat attests to it. Politicizing a pandemic is inexcusable.

As to the social issues the Pac-12 players raised ...

For starters, what the hell is this virus but a social issue?

  • The nation's leaders and populace have shown total inadequacy in battling Covid-19; and
  • Studies are showing minorities are being victimized by it by a factor of at least 2:1.

Dudes identified the root of the compensation issue. Isn't it logical that they want to strive for a better understanding of the disparities here, too, and then take action?

 

It cannot be denied that the Pac-12 players have come to their position in a logical and methodical manner. No one is affected by the situation at hand more than they are. They deserve to be heard.

In reality, they're not saying anything that differs much from what others have been saying for years. Odds are they're saying something that's inevitably gonna happen, anyway. It's time for that discussion to happen.

Plus, if Pac-12 players are talking about these issues, it's a certainty players from other FBS conferences are, too. This isn't gonna to just go away anymore than the pandemic is just gonna go away.

Their age group has enough stupid ways to die. All they're asking is not to add to them.