Big Ten postpones all fall sports, could possibly play in spring

By Ashley Bastock / The Blade
Tue, 11 Aug 2020 14:29:57 GMT

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The Big Ten has decided to punt on all fall sports seasons — including football — and will instead keep the option open to play in the spring. The league announced the decision in a press release on Tuesday afternoon.

Conference presidents voted to postpone the fall seasons citing ongoing health and safety concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to football, men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball are also affected.

The conference said that this decision was “based on multiple factors,” and medical advice from the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee. The conference added it “will continue to evaluate a number of options regarding these sports, including the possibility of competition in the spring. Decisions regarding winter and spring sports will also continue to be evaluated.”

“The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward,” conference commissioner Kevin Warren said in a press release. “As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall.”

In an appearance on Big Ten Network, Warren declined to get into specifics on the final vote tally from the presidents, and would not say whether it was unanimous. 

The move is an unprecedented one, as the Big Ten became the first Power Five conference to announce a postponement of its football season. The announcement also marks a stunning shift, as it comes less than a week after the conference released its football schedule and practices began; games were slated for the first week of September. The Big Ten, established in 1896, had previously played every season since its founding.

“That's a fair question,” Warren said on BTN when asked about the decision to postpone the season so close to the schedule release. “We always have to plan. We wanted to plan ahead for a possible season and made it very clear that the season may not actually come to fruition. We felt it was important to plan and to organize the schedule, that if we were fortunate to play fall sports, and especially football, that we would have a schedule in place. But six days is six days, and I made it very clear also that this was a day-to-day situation.”

In a statement, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said that he and incoming president Kristina Johnson were “totally aligned in our efforts to delay the start of the season rather than postpone.”

“This is an incredibly sad day for our student-athletes, who have worked so hard and been so vigilant fighting against this pandemic to get this close to their season,” Smith said. “My heart aches for them and their families.”

Smith later expanded on his statement during an appearance on BTN, saying that Ohio State “stand[s] with the league,” as speculation continued on social media that Ohio State may seek games elsewhere. 

“We would have preferred to play like everybody else,” he said. “But at the end of the day the medical advice and science overruled [that sentiment]."

In addition, Ohio State announced that specific details concerning workouts for fall sports student-athletes are still being determined. The school added that all resources currently in place that benefit student-athletes will remain. Athletes will remain on scholarship, and will still undergo coronavirus testing. They will also still have access to all team facilities, tutoring, and mental health services.

In a video posted on the official Ohio State football Twitter account, coach Ryan Day addressed his team following the news.

“I want to thank every guy in here for everything you’ve done since March,” Day said. “I still believe in my heart that we can play games in the spring, if this team can play together. You’re gonna go through a range of emotions right now. I just promise you stick together. I want you to know that we all fought for you really, really hard. We’re gonna continue to fight for you and do everything we can, everything we can. Because there’s a lot of people in here with a bright future.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also weighed in on the Big Ten’s decision on Tuesday during his press conference, and said he spoke with Smith earlier Tuesday before the official announcement. 

“That certainly is not good news,” he said. “Ultimately, this is a decision that has to be made by the schools. They weigh many things, and I'm sure they start off with the safety of their players. But they weigh other factors as well. I think it's a disappointment for Buckeye Nation, but more importantly it's a disappointed for for the young men who play football...”

“I talked with Gene Smith this morning, and I know they were looking at maybe doing it in the spring and see how things go in the spring. That poses more challenges. Look, as a fan I'm disappointed, but this is a decision that was made by the Big Ten. This was made by the schools. And we have to respect that decision.”

The University of Michigan announced in a press release that it would make decisions on organized team and voluntary student-athlete activities “as soon as information becomes available.” For the meantime, the university said in its press release that it was suspending athletic activities including practices, effective immediately, until further notice. Later in the afternoon, a Michigan football spokesman clarified that the team would, however, still be participating in voluntary practices, meetings and strength and conditioning under the NCAA’s 20-hour rule through camp. The team OK’d this move with the Big Ten.

"For the second time in five months, the Big Ten Conference made the unfortunate but necessary decision to postpone an athletic season in order to protect the health and well-being of our student-athletes, staff, and community members,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said. “As a result, all fall sport schedules have been postponed. This latest decision was reached after careful consideration and the grim knowledge that this pandemic continues to affect our country adversely. I am deeply saddened for our student-athletes and remain committed to our ongoing promise to provide them with a world-class education. We remain grateful to our global Michigan family for their unwavering support."

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh issued a separate statement through a team spokesman.

“Our student-athletes and coaches want to compete,” Harbaugh said. “They have committed, trained and prepared their entire lives for this opportunity, and I know how much they’re disappointed at this time. I share in their disappointment today. We have shown over the weeks since returning to campus that we could meet the challenge and provide our student-athletes the opportunity of a fall football season.

“Our football team, our coaching staff, our support staff in Schembechler Hall have all stepped up, followed every rule, and done everything in their power magnificently to give all the opportunity to compete. I am extremely proud, thankful and appreciative of our team and how they have conducted and represented our program and university.”

Harbaugh’s statement on Tuesday echoed a statement he released the day prior, in which he highlighted his team’s medical data — including zero positive coronavirus tests out of the last 353 administered, and 11 total positive tests out of 893 administered since mid-June.

The decision caps a wild two days in the conference. On Sunday, reports circulated that a decision on the season was imminent after two meetings, one between the Power Five conference commissioners, and the other between the Big Ten’s presidents and chancellors. On Monday, Dan Patrick reported on his radio show that the presidents and chancellors had already voted 12-2 against having a season.  However, a source later told The Blade Ohio State leadership was not in favor of canceling the season. A Big Ten spokesman also said no such vote had taken place over the weekend. Both Ohio State and Michigan also still practiced on Monday. 

On Sunday night and all day Monday, a player-led social media campaign took shape in the Big Ten and across the sport as a whole with the hashtags #WeWantToPlay and #WeAreUnited. On Sunday night, players from all Power Five conferences including Ohio State’s Justin Fields, Michigan’s Hunter Reynolds, and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence met on a Zoom call to discuss the issues at hand. The result was a statement that was widely circulated on social media, expressing their desire to play while asking for safety provisions, eligibility guarantees, an opportunity to be part of the decision making, and ultimately creating a College Football Players Association.

Coaches soon joined in, including Harbaugh, Day (who appeared on College Football Live Monday and argued that canceling the season now would be “a mistake”), Penn State’s James Franklin, and Nebraska’s Scott Frost.

Reports also circulated on Monday about the influence that the potential long-term health effects of coronavirus could have on the conference’s decision on whether to proceed with a season.  Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, is among the most significant concerns. If left untreated and undiagnosed, it has the potential to cause sudden cardiac arrest or heart damage. Last week a Facebook post from Debbie Rucker, the mother of Indiana offensive lineman Brady Feeney, detailed how Feeney was dealing with potential heart problems after previously testing positive for coronavirus. According to The Athletic, the conference is aware of at least 10 athletes who have myocarditis, and who have previously tested positive for coronavirus. 

Following the Big Ten’s announcement, the Pac-12 also announced it would be postponing all sports competitions through the end of the calendar year. 

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