Lawrence, Fields lead call for college players' union
Two of college football's most famous quarterbacks took to Twitter late Sunday night to call for the formation of a players' union.
With the 2020 season reportedly in serious danger of postponement, Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State's Justin Fields listed a series of objectives for the 2020 campaign while using the hashtags #WeWantToPlay and #WeAreUnited.
In their statement, which was shared by a host of other players, Lawrence and Fields wrote that the ultimate goal is to "create a college football players association."
The list also included the establishment of "universal mandated health and safety procedures" to protect student-athletes amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The idea for the campaign stemmed from a video call organized by Lawrence, Stanford defensive lineman Dylan Boles, and Clemson running back Darien Rencher that included players from all five major conferences.
"The beautiful thing is now we're all on the same page," said Boles, according to ESPN's Dan Murphy. "We made history tonight."
Boles said there was universal support among the players on the call for the creation of a union, as well as for the rest of the statement's messages. Boles is a leader of the Pac-12 player unity group that recently threatened to sit out practices and games if its demands for racial equality and protection of players' health aren't met.
Alabama running back Najee Harris, Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard, Oregon's Penei Sewell, Utah's Nick Ford, Washington State's Dallas Hobbs, and Michigan's Hunter Reynolds were among the players who participated in the call.
"There's been a sense that this is something groundbreaking and something we feel is long overdue," Reynolds said. "I guess now it's finally being done."
Rumors that the 2020 college football season could be delayed until spring gained steam Sunday. Lawrence argued players will be at even greater risk of contracting COVID-19 if they're sent home.
"Football is a safe haven for so many people. We are more likely to get the virus in everyday life than playing football," the national title winner wrote Sunday on Twitter.