Power 5 College Football Players Announce List of Demands in Attempt to Save the 2020 Season

Players provide list of demands they want to see out of college decision makers

As the outlooks of a 2020 college football season seem to dwindle by the hour, the Power 5 student-athletes, spearheaded by Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence are united in their stance.

The #WeWantToPlay movement took on a life of its own as college football stars started to hear that the writing on the wall was that there was going to be no college football this fall. As the afternoon hours rolled on, prominent student-athletes like Justin Fields, Ja'Marr Chase and Kylin Hill all sent out the viral tweet that's been trending for the last 12 hours. 

#WeWantToPlay

— Ja’MarrChase (@Real10jayy__) August 10, 2020

At around 11 p.m. CT on Sunday evening, Lawrence sent out another tweet, expressing how much the players want to have a voice in what's decided among the conference decision makers.

#WeWantToPlay pic.twitter.com/jvQhE7noGB

— Trevor Lawrence (@Trevorlawrencee) August 10, 2020

The list of demands from the players is the first college football player led movement to be established. Though the word union was never stated, here are the list of demands that Power 5 college football athletes have for college football decision makers:

• We all want to play football this season
• Establish mandated health & safety procedures and protocols to protect college athletes against COVID-19 among all conferences through the NCAA
• Give players the opportunity to opt-out and respect their decision
• Guarantee eligibility whether a player chooses to play the season or not.
• Use our voices to establish open communications & trust between players and officials. Ultimately create a college football players association
• Representative of the players of all Power 5 conferences. 

A players union is one of the things that scares presidents and college decision makers the most. It undermines the definition of being an amateur athlete.

“You and your colleagues are chasing the wrong story. The virus alone is enough to stop the season," a Power 5 athletic director texted writer Matt Hayes. "But presidents are terrified of players organizing. It’s the paradigm shift to change amateur sports. You potentially lose one season with the virus. You lose the entire framework of your mission statement with players organizing. They need time to figure out how to attack it.”

Whether or not this player led movement swings the needle in any way remains to be seen. After two days of meetings this past weekend, it's believed that the Big Ten will announce the cancellation of fall sports early this week. If that happens, other conferences will be put in a tough position and could ultimately decide to take a similar route.

It's been reported that the SEC is holding firm on its decision to push forward with a 2020 season, but that all could change if other Power 5 conferences elect to push back the 2020 season. SEC leaders are expected to meet Thursday to talk about the future but Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger reported that meeting could be pushed up.

“It’s gotten to a critical stage,” one conference commissioner told Sports Illustrated Sunday, after a conference call between the heads of the Power 5 conferences. “I think all of us will be meeting with our boards in the coming days. We have work to do that is no fun.”