Penn State Football Players Join the #IWantToPlay Movement
Sports Illustrated reported Saturday that the "machinery is in motion" to postpone the 2020 college football season. Penn State players later emerged on social media voicing hopes that it can be saved.
Several Nittany Lions joined the Twitter hashtag #IWantToPlay to express both their confidence in COVID-19 testing and prevention protocols at Penn State and their desire to play a football season.
"There’s a reason our team has had little to no cases or complications with handling COVID-19," quarterback Will Levis wrote. "I am extremely grateful for our staff, and particularly the training staff, for putting our health first and thus allowing us to continue mastering our crafts. We are ready. #IWantToPlay."
Teammates Michal Menet, Will Fries, Pat Freiermuth, PJ Mustipher, Jake Pinegar and Sean Clifford were among those who contributed their voices, along with players nationwide, as college administrators determined the game's next steps. But players eager to return are beginning to face reality, as Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde said.
Penn State was scheduled to enter its third day of training camp Sunday. On Day 3 of the acclimatization period, players are permitted to wear shoulder pads along with helmets as protective equipment. On the fifth day, players normally are permitted to wear full pads.
But the Big Ten on Saturday froze the acclimatization period at Day 2, meaning that players remain limited to wearing helmets as the only piece of protective equipment until further notice.
"In order to make the right health and safety decisions for our student-athletes, we believe it is best to continue in the appropriate phase of activity referenced above while we digest and share information from each campus to ensure we are moving forward cautiously," the Big Ten said.
In its last public release July 29, Penn State reported eight student-athletes had tested positive for COVID-19. The teams represented among those positive tests were not announced.
Amid this backdrop, some Penn State players described their comfort level with university protocols under the #IWantToPlay hashtag.
Freiermuth, who returned to Penn State though he was eligible to enter the 2020 NFL draft, said, "We are ready to play and we want to play."
Clifford discussed the first day of camp in a video produced by Penn State.
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