Ohio State head coach Ryan Day released a statement on Twitter Thursday asking the Big Ten why the players within the conference cannot play football in the fall, while also stating that the Big Ten’s medical subcommittee has created “a safe pathway toward returning to play in mid-October.”
— Ryan Day (@ryandaytime) September 10, 2020
“While I understand the Big Ten Conference’s decision to postpone the football season because of health and safety considerations, the communication of information from the Big Ten following the decision has been disappointing and often unclear,” Day wrote in the statement. “However, we still have an opportunity to give our young men what they have worked so hard for: a chance to safely compete for a national championship this fall.
“I couldn’t possibly be prouder of how this team, our medical personnel, athletic director and president have stayed together and managed through this extremely difficult time with so many unanswered questions. The Big Ten medical subcommittee has done an excellent job of creating a safe pathway toward returning to play in mid-October.
“These young men and their parents have asked so many questions that I do not have an answer to, but the one that hurts the most is “Why can these other teams and players play and we can’t?” Duke is playing Notre Dame, and Clemson is playing Wake Forest this weekend. Our players want to know: why can’t they play?”
Moments after the statement, Ohio State football’s Twitter account posted a video with the hashtag, “Fight.”
#Fight pic.twitter.com/Y8IWGIgSBF
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) September 10, 2020
“We’re just going to keep fighting and swinging as hard as we can, that’s all we can do, and all we ask is just that one opportunity,” Day said in the video. “If we get that chance to go play for a national championship, we’re going to swing as hard as we possibly can.”
The Big Ten initially called to postpone the football season for the remainder of 2020 on Aug. 11, a decision that was quickly followed by the Pac-12. The ACC, Big 12 and SEC have all continued on the path to playing games in the fall, with the ACC and Big 12 opening up their schedules with games this upcoming weekend.
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