Parents of Big Ten football players, upset over the process that led to the postponement of the fall season, held a protest near the conference’s Chicago-area headquarters Friday while an attorney in Nebraska demanded Commissioner Kevin Warren turn over material illustrating how the decision was made.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 announced Aug. 11 that health and safety concerns over the coronavirus led them to shut down football this fall. The other three major conferences, the Atlantic Coast, Big 12 and Southeastern, are planning to play.
Groups of player parents from several Big Ten schools have complained that Warren was not forthcoming in explaining the process that led to the school presidents’ decision. A more detailed explanation Warren offered in an open letter this week was not to their satisfaction.
Randy Wade, father of Ohio State cornerback Shaun Wade, organized the protest in suburban Rosemont. About two dozen parents representing Iowa, Illinois, Ohio State and Wisconsin showed up. A few carried “Let Them Play” signs and the group chanted, “Let us play!”
“We want to play in the fall, but regardless of playing in the fall, we want to have conversations before the spring, before next fall. Because we feel like, most of us feel like you know, with this pandemic, things are happening but things are not going to change as we see forth. The coronavirus and stuff like that is, we think it's the new normal and it might not change,” Wade said.
The protest started with a 17-second moment of silence to recognize the 170,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19.
Wade called on Warren to set up a videoconference with parents and athletic directors to discuss in detail how the decision was reached.
Kallenberger said the parents also want Warren to provide clarity on whether there was a vote of presidents and, if so, how each school voted.
"We want to get some transparency on it. We want to know okay, what has to happen in these different areas around these schools for us to move forward safely? We just don't want them to say, 'okay, we can't play because... uncertainty.' I'm military, you're always going to have uncertainty. You know, we gotta do better than that,” Wade said.
