Illinois Football: Report says Big Ten is cancelling the 2020 season

Just when you thought the Illini could have a special football season, everything gets ripped away in one fatal swoop.

It is being reported today by Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press that the Big Ten has officially canceled the football season, effectively ending all hope we would have the college game this fall. This decision comes days after the Illinois football program released its 10-game schedule featuring all conference games.

The decision also comes just hours after the power five conference schools had players form a united front on making sure they are safe and healthy on the football field while still playing the game.

There are multiple tentacles to the entire situation. But there are two big tentacles to really take a look at here. You have the health of the players and playing games, and then you have the power movement of players who are starting to have a voice.

Let’s take a look at the health and games aspect. Health should always be at the forefront when it comes to any decision with the college athletes. A large group of athletes want to play the game of football, but they also want to make sure they have the same health guidelines that employees would have.

In the demands, for a lack of a better word, the college players still want to play but they want “universal mandated health and safety procedures and protocols” for the players. They want each player to have the chance to “opt-out” and for coaches and administration to “respect their decision.” They also want to “guarantee eligibility whether a player chooses to play the season or not”

At the end of the day, the players’ goal is to “create a college football players association” that is “representative of the players of all power five conferences.”

I would love it if each and every one of these things were done in the next year. Players do need a voice if they are going to be putting their bodies on the line for their respective college. That leads to the player power movement that is going on.

The players are finally having a voice and realizing that they have some power in the way things are run at the college level. The power movement can’t be a few players from Northwestern wanting to unionize. This needed to be from the best players in the game, and it needed to be from a large swath of the players in the power five conferences. Both boxes are checked.

We have officially entered into a new era of college football. Things as we know it won’t ever be the same again. I am here for the change and, hopefully, better days are ahead.