Ohio State, Penn State parents write letters to Big Ten's Kevin Warren asking for a fall season and 'transparency'
The parents of Ohio State and Penn State football players really want a fall football season.
The Football Parents Association of Ohio State wrote an open letter to Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren on Saturday, requesting that Warren reverse the conference’s decision to postpone the football season to the spring and provide “transparency” in the conference’s decision-making process. The letter from Ohio State’s parents comes days after parents of Iowa players wrote a similar letter to the Big Ten.
“We believe the August 11th decision was made in haste,” the Ohio State letter said. “As we have continued to learn nationally about COVID-19, our understanding and protocols in dealing with this virus have also continued to evolve. In the best interests of our players, we strongly believe that the Big Ten should re-evaluate its decision. Additional time and consideration provided by deferring the decision would allow for more data to be analyzed and evaluated. It would also allow the players to continue to safely prepare and train for a fall season.”
There’s no shame in righting a wrong.... pic.twitter.com/rMjBlsBnf1
— Pablo Fields (@snooka55) August 15, 2020
The letter asks Warren to participate in a video call with players and their parents and also to “provide a detailed action plan including standard protocols and safety practices for all teams”, as well as respond to the letter by Wednesday.
Hours later, Penn State parents issued a similar letter that asked Warren why the decision to call off the season was made days after he indicated the season would go on as scheduled.
“We want to know what changed in six days and why was this decision rushed before the Big Ten Conference and the NCAA could answer some of the most basic questions regarding the futures of these student-athletes,” the Penn State letter reads.
The Penn State football parents association is looking for answers from Kevin Warren and PSU President Eric Barron. A letter signed from 80-plus parents wants to know what changed after the schedule was released, among other details: pic.twitter.com/GFwaTEhTOc
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) August 15, 2020
Parents don’t have much power
While the parents of players across the Big Ten are understandably upset that their sons aren’t able to play football this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic, they also don’t have much power to change the Big Ten’s decision on this one.
Warren said the Big Ten made its decision Tuesday based on the advice of medical experts and after reports that multiple players in the Big Ten had been diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart that can be linked with viral infections.
Ohio State has publicly said it’s on board with the Big Ten’s decision too. While coach Ryan Day had advocated for a fall season and wanted the team to play in the fall, athletic director Gene Smith said this week that the school was committed to finding a workable spring solution.
Ohio State has continued its communications with the Big Ten Conference office regarding a scenario to still play fall football games, but has now determined that this would not be an allowable opportunity for us to move toward.
— gene smith (@OSU_AD) August 12, 2020
We are 100% focused on supporting the health and safety and academic success of our student-athletes, and on working with the Big Ten to develop a spring plan for our sports as expeditiously as possible.
— gene smith (@OSU_AD) August 12, 2020
While the parents’ request for Warren to reverse his decision postponing fall sports may be unreasonable, asking for greater transparency isn’t. The Pac-12 released its medical assessment that led to the postponement of its fall sports on Tuesday. The Big Ten did not provide a similar document to the public. Heck, Yahoo Sports’ own Pete Thamel reported that Big Ten teams only started discussing Monday night what they’d do in the fall if the season was postponed to the spring.
This conversation last night about how programs would handle the *fall* with no football, hinted at what came today. Officials and coaches were discussing potential fall plans -- workouts? athletic activities? strength and conditioning? -- for the first time. https://t.co/hF9lMhou5P
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 11, 2020
At the moment, just 77 of 130 FBS teams are set to play football in the fall. The Mid-American Conference and Mountain West Conference have also postponed their seasons to the spring.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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