College athletes across the spectrum can communicate now more than ever.
A chunk of that can be attributed to social media and the beauty of that was on display for all to see Sunday evening with college football players rallying around the #WeWantToPlay movement spread out across the five power leagues in the sport.
The movement, which featured players all across the nation, called for established universal health and safety procedures and protocols, the opportunity for players to opt out, guaranteeing eligibility regardless if a player chooses to play or not and using their voices to establish communication and trust between players and officials with hopes of ultimately creating a player’s association.
That was no different at West Virginia, as the Mountaineers had a number of players speaking out in favor of a college football season through various social media platforms.
Their head coach was paying attention as well as was taken back by the movement.
“How incredible that was. I stayed up way later than I really usually do or wanted to just because I was moved by the actions of not only our player but players across college football,” Brown said. “Using their voice and using it in a positive manner to state that they want to play.”
The social media movement is one that while Brown enjoyed seeing, was caught off guard by his players participating in it. That’s because he had not held previous discussions with them over it.
“I saw it all like you did. I thought it was pretty neat,” he said.
Brown, along with the majority of his team and coaches, want to play this football season as long as it is done safely and securely. He does remind that he has told all of his players that if they are not comfortable with proceeding they have the option to opt out this year, which to date one player has taken advantage of in sophomore safety Kerry Martin due to health concerns.
The expression part of it is what Brown encourages his team to do and while the coaches have answered questions from players and discussed how camp would unfold this wasn’t on the agenda. Still, it’s just another chapter in the way that student athletes are attempting to take control of their own narratives.
It’s unclear if the movement will have an impact once the dust has truly settled, but for now it was a strong showing of the many different players spread out across the conferences coming together. The world is becoming a smaller place and that isn’t lost on the players.
“I think it’s important for the players to express themselves and we give them that opportunity,” he said.
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