Arizona Football may not solely be impacted by the Corona Virus, especially if the rumors are true about the players potentially boycotting the season.
There’s power in numbers and timing is everything, especially as Arizona Football may benefit from a boycott, although none of them have spoken up on the topic of a boycott just yet. Players have spoken up about their thoughts on COVID19. Also, Arizona has halted bringing in any additional players on campus.
Well as former ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter (2005-08) Tweeted out the news on July 17th, he discussed how some current division football players are voicing their concern about an upcoming season and the impending boycott.
Arizona Wildcats Football
"Thread- Pac 12 football players have created a list of “demands” 4 the @pac12/Universities 2 take into consideration, if the demands aren’t addressed/complied w/ the players R threatening to sit out the season..There is significant support growing among ALL 12 teams with 50 or12:02 PM · Jul 17, 2020More players on many of teams in support of this action/demands list..The initial idea was 2 create a players union, they decided time didn’t allow 4 this & figure the best way to create the change they want is 2 “boycott” the season. Things they r asking 4 is 50/50 rev share,Tweet 36 yrs insurance upon graduation, better Covid-19 testing & protocols etc etc…The player led group is being spearheaded at @CalFootball& they have been holding phone calls with other Pac12 teams..There is some kinda of players only meeting/vote that will be taking place shortly."
Timing:
California High Schools just decided that they are postponing their football seasons until December 2020/January 2021 according to CBS Sports, “A move that could have a major impact on college football recruiting and set a precedent for other states going forward amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to David Cobb.
On Monday, the governing body for California High School sports is the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) announced that their football season could start in December or January at the earliest, rather than August/ September.
So would this boycott, if successful, lure more players to the Pac-12? Well, some high school seniors are talking about forgoing their senior season, if their season were to be pushed to the spring, entering college a semester early.
College football programs along with their Universities are struggling financially during this pandemic, especially due to the lack of revenue from sporting events being halted back in March 2020.
The sport that could bail out other college sports programs is Football and the revenue that comes in from ticket sales and more.
Thus the timing is ripe for a boycott, sit-in, or whatever else you want to call it, the power is with the players right now.
There has been talk to cut Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott’s contract short a year to help save the conference some money. Maybe then the Pac-12 Network can make a deal with DIRECTV to bring in more money. Could making a deal help Scott keep is job or jeopardize it? Does he even care at this point?
Pac-12: Don’t Expect DirecTV deal with Conference anytime soon
Arizona Wildcats fans and Pac-12 fans alike learned of bad news as Larry Scott and the conference announced DirecTV deal still may be a ways off.
Demands:
According to Carpenter, a podcast and radio host and contributor to KTAR-FM in Arizona, there was no time to put together a Players Association of some kind, so the best alternative was to make demands or boycott playing.
The effort, Carpenter says, is being led by Cal Bears players who are reaching out to all the other Pac-12 teams and are holding meetings. We all know that most of the players in the Pac-12 are from the West Coast and they know each other from prep ball and high school play and more. So it is not a stretch that there can be a network of players organized quickly, especially with all the transferring and recruiting going on these days of established players.
The Hero Sports reached out to Carpenter who told them, “It’s unclear when a potential boycott would begin.”
What the players are looking for:
- 50/50 Revenue Share – this is something that may be impossible to get with the current circumstances, but may be something to discuss as a future possibility. Maybe the Pac-12 could accelerate the sponsorship (using players name and likeness) opportunity they have been discussing as an alternate to this proposal. Let them make money off of their name and likeness already!
- Six years insurance upon graduation – We can see this being doable.
- Better Covid-19 testing and protocols – This is a must. Maybe since the Pac-12 hasn’t cancelled the season yet, the players will want the conference to better protect them and not just assume they players won’t have a voice. They need a voice in their own safety, health and wellbeing. The push to make money to save sports lies on the backs of these football players who will be risking their health to save the school. In the desperation, their best interests may not be a the top of the list.
Ever wonder why Max Hazzard was benched last season? Well he had a brand of clothing that he had launched, and the NCAA wanted him to decide between the two: Keep his brand, Be Seen, or play in the NCAA. Well, Max told us why on TIKTOK. Deandre Ayton helped him push the brand. If the t-shirts did not include his name or likeness the NCAA still said he violated their rules. This just seems silly. The Players should fight for the right to be able to make money just like their school, maybe share the profits, but this is just plain silly.
Other:
Recently the Pac-12 cancelled all 36 non-conference games. For Arizona Football, that means no game against:
- Aug. 29th at home vs. Hawai’i
- Sept. 5th at home vs. Portland State
- Sept. 19th at Texas Tech
The Pac-12 made this decision after the Big Ten made their decision to cancel non-conference games. The ACC, SEC and Big 12 have not yet cancelled games.
If college football doesn’t happen this season, the blame will land at President Trumps front door according to Yahoo Sports Pat Forde who stated, “If the season dies, we know who had the biggest hand in killing any chance of it happening: Donald Trump.” Forde goes on to explain what he means, “Slow to respond, quick to downplay the risk, unwilling to create a national strategy, quite willing to attack governors who took the pandemic seriously..”
Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the recently side-lined CDC Director, an expert on battling the COVID19 virus spoke on the Journal of the American Medical Association Network, “If we could get everybody to wear a mask right now, I think in four, six, eight weeks we could bring this epidemic under control.” Wouldn’t that be great!! Maybe the Pac-12 football players can work with Dr. Redfield, we can have a safe and enjoyable season after all? We refuse to not have some hope.
How will it end up? Who knows. But Carpenter gave his thoughts on Twitter, “I’ve spoken to some coaches & a ton of players from some of these Pac-12 schools…As in debates there are interesting points/issues on both sides…I’m sure there will be much discussion on the air waves of this comes to fruition.”