Notre Dame Team Leaders Make Case For Playing Football This Fall
Notre Dame’s player leadership spoke up Monday night about a season on the verge of cancellation.
Quarterback Ian Book released a statement on Twitter from himself and the Irish’s nine other offseason Spring/Summer Workout Accountability Team (SWAT) leaders urging university presidents and commissioners not to cancel the season while momentum for such a decision builds. The Big Ten is reportedly cancelling its season. The Mountain West and Mid-American have already announced they will not play this fall.
The theme of it was to make sure decision makers understand Notre Dame’s dedication to health and safety they feel has shown up in the past two months. Head coach Brian Kelly, in his own statement, supported their message.
“While it is not clear who holds the future of this season in their hands, there are a few things that we, the football student-athletes at the University of Notre Dame, want to make clear from our perspective,” the players’ statement read.
It then listed several reasons for their comfort in playing this season amid a global pandemic.
“We believe our safety is our top priority,” the statement read. “Our coaches, doctors and training staff have proven that to us every step of the way.
“We want to play football. We are ready for the challenge. As leaders of this team, we can confidently say the mental and physical health of this team is in a better place with the football season taking place this fall. We will continue to work with our university, medical staff and coaches to keep our team as safe and healthly as possible. In return, we are asking for those in power to listen. Don’t change the game plan now. It’s time to take the field.”
The statement was released a day after nine Notre Dame players, including Book, tweeted the hashtag #WeWantToPlay that college football players around the country employed to make known their desire.
Kelly’s statement came immediately after Book’s.
“I stand firmly in support of our players,” Kelly wrote on Twitter. “They have held each other to a high level of accountability and discipline in regards to the strict health and safety protocols implemented by our medical staff. We’ll continue putting health and safety at the forefront of all that we do.”
Notre Dame football began voluntary workouts June 22. The program has given 459 COVID-19 tests to players and staff since then, with two positive cases. Both have since recovered and returned to practice. The latest publicly announced round had 103 tests, all of which were negative.
In addition to Book, Notre Dame’s SWAT leaders — a concept established by strength coach Matt Balis in 2017 upon his arrival — are tight end Brock Wright, offensive linemen Robert Hainsey, Tommy Kraemer and Liam Eichenberg, defensive linemen Daelin Hayes, Ade Ogundeji and Kurt Hinish, linebacker Drew White and defensive back Shaun Crawford.
Book, Hayes, running back Jafar Armstrong, wide receiver Bennett Skowronek, offensive lineman Hunter Spears, walk-on long snapper Michael Vinson cornerback Nick McCloud, safety Isaiah Pryor and safety Houston Griffith tweeted the #WeWantToPlay hashtag Sunday night.
Book also shared a graphic on his Instagram Sunday designed to reveal the unity of the larger #WeWantToPlay movement and #WeAreUnited movement. The former spread overnight Sunday and called for the formation of a union. The latter started earlier in August with hundreds of Pac-12 players demanding, at threat of opt-out, clear safety protocols, profit sharing among players and a commitment to erase racial injustice in college sports.
The graphic listed these bullet points:
• We all want to play football this season.
• Establish universal mandated health and safety procedures and protocols to protect college athletes against COVID-19 among all conferences.
• Give players the opportunity to opt out and respect their decision.
• Guarantee eligibility whether a player chooses to play the season or not.
• Use our voices to establish open communication between players and officials: Ultimately create a College Football Players Association.
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