President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Monday to call on colleges and universities to proceed with football and other fall sports, as the future of such competition looks to be precarious in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
As Yahoo Sports reported, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence posted a tweet on Sunday night in which he called on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to implement safety protocols that would allow its member schools to proceed with fall sports this season, chief among them college football.
#WeWantToPlay pic.twitter.com/jvQhE7noGB
— Trevor Lawrence (@Trevorlawrencee) August 10, 2020
Lawrence reportedly wrote the tweet after participating in a Zoom call with other major players, during which they came up with the suggestions listed above.
On Monday, Trump retweeted Lawrence’s post and added his own thoughts on the matter.
“The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled. #WeWantToPlay,” he tweeted.
In a follow-up tweet, Trump didn’t mince words.
Play College Football!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2020
Trump’s tweets came just an hour or so after a major college athletic program, Old Dominion, announced that there would be no sports played this fall due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Virginia institution joins at least 14 other major schools at the top tier of college sports to announce that there will be no season this fall.
Further, as reported by The Inquisitr , reports suggested on Monday that the Big Ten conference had voted Sunday night to cancel football this year, ending the seasons of teams that include Illinois, Michigan and Ohio State.
However, the Big Ten has yet to make an official announcement, although reports indicate that an announcement could be coming as early as Tuesday.
Similarly, multiple other second-tier conferences have already announced that there will be no college sports this season. Additionally, the Big Ten is among four other conferences in the so-called “Power Five” of conferences that include just about every major name in college football, and the heads of those organizations are purportedly looking at canceling football soon as well.
Those programs that do decide to play may very well find their teams without anyone to play against.
Outside of the top tier of college football, the second and third tier — the NCAA Division II and Division III — have all canceled their seasons. The FCS, which is considered the second division of top-tier football, has seen more than half of its own programs cancel their own seasons.
Yahoo Sports writer Nick Bromberg posited that the complete abolition of college football this season would be a blow to Trump.
“No football in 2020 can be seen as an indictment of the United States government’s handling of the pandemic,” he wrote.
