Hubbard Responds from Monday Twitter Medley and Big 12's Bowlsby Acknowledges Players are More Activists Than Ever
STILLWATER -- There is no question that student-athletes are now empowered like never before. The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, which bubbled up the intense need for football to be played in order to keep college athletic programs flush with necessary cash, and the fight for social justice for all that was pushed by the senseless death of George Floyd for all to see.
At Oklahoma State, Heisman Trophy candidate and returning All-American running back Chuba Hubbard has been the poster for athletes using their voice. It was Hubbard's tweet reacting to his head coach Mike Gundy wearing a ultra conservative news network t-shirt that ignited the media outcry and the internal investigation into Gundy's performance as head coach.
Hubbard issued a series of tweets on Monday afternoon criticizing the decision of Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater to charge protesters in downtown Oklahoma City with terrorism charges following malicious damage to several buildings including part of the Oklahoma City Memorial and Museum, some small businesses, and the burning of a vehicle belonging to the Oklahoma County Sheriffs Department.
Hubbard was advocating for people to call Prater's office and urge him to resign. There was a huge outcry from Oklahoma State fans, the general public, and especially people that lost loved ones and friends in the Murrah Building bombing. The belief is the extreme charge of terrorism for the accused in the case was due to the building they damaged while trying to elicit a change from the government. That charge fits from a legal standpoint under that assumption, which would have to be proven in court.
Now, Hubbard's Twitter address is back up after going dormant Tuesday night. Hubbard released a Twitter message which you can see above where he states that his Twitter became a playground for hate and that is the last thing he ever wanted to happen. Now, he promises that you will see him, feel him, but it won't be on a social platform.
To his detractors he said, "I will continue to play football at the highest level! That won't ever stop! But I also won't stop pushing for what I feel is right!!!!"
Earlier on Tuesday I was interviewing Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby and I asked him about a different situation that came up over the weekend, but also having to do with college athletes being activists.
Several outlets reported that players from all 12 Pac-12 football programs, but being spearheaded by players at California were demanding a 50/50 sharing between the schools and the players of football revenue as well as a guarantee of six-years of health insurance benefits upon graduation and immediately better COVID-19 testing and protocols to keep players safer.
"There was an article to that effect over the weekend and I was on a call with Larry Scott (Pac-12 commissioner) and the other A-5 commissioners this morning," Bowlsby said. "I asked him about it and he said he had not heard from any players and he had asked people on the various campuses and they had not heard much about it."
Bowlsby sounded like most people with regards to the internet when he said that there were reports out there, so there must be some truth to it.
"The Pac-12 region tends to be more activists that many parts of the country," Bowlsby volunteered and said he left campus as athletic director at Stanford to be in a position to respond to student-athletes. "I thought there was a lot right about college athletics but I thought there were some things that needed to be changed. I think we need to listen. I don't think college athletes are employees and they are there to get an education. To the extent that there are things we can do like transitional healthcare, like returning to campus to finish their degrees. Those are some of the things that we've already put in place. Full cost of attendance is something that we've done that has really helped the athletes. If there are more things we can do then we need to listen."
Now it is a stretch to go from better healthcare and getting diplomas to jumping in on government and legal issues or political stands, but in both areas, as evidenced by the past few days, student-athletes are stepping out with the voice that has grown much louder in the past six weeks.
