Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Penn St. parents upset by Big Ten’s decision
The disappointment was clear Wednesday in the voices of two parents of Penn State football players who might have seen their sons play their final college games after the Big Ten pulled the plug on the fall season a day earlier.
“A bunch of those guys played in their last White Out Game (in 2019) and had no clue,” said Brian Menet, father of Penn State senior center Michal Menet, the former Exeter star. “They played their last game in that stadium and had no clue.
“They won’t get that walk around the field that Trace (former Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley) and others made famous (on Senior Day). I shouldn’t speak for Michal, but I feel bad for him that he’s not going to get his recognition on Senior Day.”
Dianne Freiermuth, the mother of Nittany Lions tight end Pat Freiermuth, was hopeful Tuesday morning when she read reports that the Big Ten was going to delay the start of the fall season because of the coronavirus pandemic and not cancel it. That changed when the announcement came around 3 p.m. Tuesday.
“Oh, we’re just sad,” Freiermuth said. “In no way do I question the opinions of medical experts. If there’s one thing this whole pandemic has taught us, it’s to believe science. So it’s not that at all.
“If canceling the season was the medically appropriate thing to do, I agree with it. The way it came down as quickly as it did was weird.”
The Big Ten announced a revised football schedule on Aug. 5, three days before the conference instructed teams to continue to practice without pads. Late Sunday night, Dianne Freiermuth wrote a letter as president of the Penn State Football Parents Association in support of the players, coaches and staff with the Lions.
Penn State coach James Franklin and coaches at Michigan (Jim Harbaugh), Ohio State (Ryan Day) and Nebraska (Scott Frost) made it clear Monday that they wanted the Big Ten to support a fall season, even if that meant delaying games until late September.
Franklin has not made public comments since the conference’s announcement to postpone all fall sports to the spring semester.
“I’m frustrated by how quickly this all developed,” Freiermuth said from her home in Massachusetts. “It was really like a roller coaster there at the end. It was like a week of feeling so positive and then the bottom just fell out.”
She and Brian Menet said they believe Penn State has been doing an effective job keeping their sons and the rest of the football team safe and healthy.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Brian Menet said. “There’s just so much to absorb. The Penn State players have to be extremely frustrated because of how prepared the program was in dealing with this (COVID-19) with all the things they have in place to absolutely minimize this.
“When somebody says the kids are safer at school, I agree 1,000%. They had that accountability to each other to do the right things. They were getting tested on a regular basis. They were wearing face coverings. They were doing all the right things.”
Penn State issued its regular report on COVID-19 testing on Wednesday and said 560 tests have been conducted since athletes began returning to campus in June with eight positives and three results pending.
Michal Menet and Pat Freiermuth returned to their homes Tuesday evening and are expected to return to State College for the fall semester, their parents said. The Lions and other college football teams are allowed to participate in practice and team functions up to 20 hours a week under NCAA guidelines.
“People say it’s only a game, but it’s a game with huge economical implications,” Dianne Freiermuth said. “I feel horrible. We had a hotel booked for every game weekend in State College and had to cancel.
“When this started in March, we hoped in our heart of hearts we’d be in a better place now. There’s just so much. It’s scary. It’s sad. There are so many layers.”
What makes it especially gut-wrenching, according to Brian Menet, is that Penn State had championship aspirations. The Lions had their best team in more than 10 years.
Even if games are played in the spring, which would take some doing, players could opt out to prepare for the NFL. All-American linebacker Micah Parsons already has.
“Why cancel?” Menet asked. “There was time. It may have been inevitable. But why now?”