HEALTH CONCERNS
Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson is among 30 players calling for UCLA to adopt some health protections amid the pandemic.
After a virtual team meeting Thursday night, 30 UCLA football players united in support behind a document they believe will protect them in their upcoming return to campus amid the COVID-19 pan- demic.
The document, reviewed by The Times late Thursday, asserts that players do not trust UCLA to act in their best interest, particularly in regard to their health, a realm where it says the school has “perpetually failed us,” citing “neglected and mismanaged injury cases.” The document does not provide examples.
The players demanded that a “third-party health official” be on hand for all football activities to see that protocols for COVID-19 prevention are being followed; that anonymous whistleblower protections are provided for athletes and staff to report violations; and that each player can make a decision about whether to come back to Westwood without fear of losing his scholarship or other retaliation.
“These demands reflect our call for an environment in which we do not feel pressured to return to competition, and if we choose not to return, that our decision will be respected,” the document reads. “If our demands are not met, we will refrain from booster events, recruiting events and all football-related promotional activities.
“The decision to return to training amidst a global pandemic has put us, the student-athletes, on the frontlines of a battle that we as a nation have not yet been able to win. We feel that as some of the first members of the community to attempt a return to normalcy, we must have assurances that allow us to make informed decisions and be protected regardless of our decision.”
For the Bruins, the clock is ticking. Many players are expected to report to voluntary workouts on Monday.
Contacted Friday morning by The Times, UCLA athletic officials expressed understanding of the players’ hesitation to return to campus as the pandemic continues. Matt Elliott, UCLA’s senior associate athletic director for internal operations, said a department task force dedicated to return-to-training issues has been meeting daily for the last three to four weeks to prepare the best safety protocols, led by the resources and top minds from the UCLA Health System.
Elliott said that UCLA had not guaranteed athletes’ scholarships would be protected if they choose not to return because scholarships currently cover them until Oct. 1 and the immediate priority was to safely return them to campus. He said that the school would guarantee fall sport athletes’ aid through the coming season but could not say beyond that.
“We will evaluate subsequent terms to see where we are in the pandemic and what the health recommendations are for winter and spring,” Elliott said.
As for the other two demands, Elliott said UCLA is “incredibly fortunate to have a campus with a world-class medical center” and that the guidance given to team doctors and sports medicine staff comes from that network of voices.
Elliott said players were informed in meetings Wednesday and Thursday that the school would create an online portal that would allow them to report anonymously to the school’s faculty athletic representative, Dr. Michael Teitell.
That assurance was not enough to keep 30 players from Chip Kelly’s program — a list that includes starting quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson — from convening a video conference Thursday night to complete their document. For hours, they debated about what they would collectively use as leverage to achieve their goals.
On Friday, ThompsonRobinson sent out a tweet defending Kelly, adding, “Don’t turn this into a feeding frenzy on Coach, this is about the safety of the program as a whole.”
He elaborated in another tweet, writing: “Would also like to state that Coach Kelly agrees with ALL of the demands on this letter and is working to get them in place. As the player whose face is on the cover of the article, I apologize to coach as I was unaware the letter would be given to the media for them to mislead.”
Also Friday, players, coaches and university officials were scheduled to participate in a virtual meeting to discuss the players’ concerns. Players who do not report for voluntary workouts will not be in danger of losing their scholarships, according to one person with knowledge of the athletic department’s plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
Some players on Thursday expressed willingness to boycott practices and games in order to make a bigger point. But that went too far for most in the group, according to two UCLA players who signed the document but asked The Times for anonymity because of fear of retribution.
“We put our lives at risk every single time we put on that helmet,” said one UCLA player. “Now, with this, what people don’t understand is, they say there’s a .1% chance of somebody dying, but last time I checked, that .1% has to be somebody. We’re going to come to a point where a college player will literally have to die from COVID-19 for someone to understand what’s going on. I hope it doesn’t have to reach that point.”
UCLA has had more than three months to solidify plans for football’s return. The players who spoke to The Times said they were not notified of next Monday’s return date until Tuesday, around the time the news went public. Some players felt out of the loop, but the athletic department did not receive clearance from L.A. County and the university until Monday afternoon.
While the NCAA has announced it would allow UCLA and other teams with Aug. 29 season openers to begin mandatory workouts July 6, UCLA has not called its players to return by that date because it has not received clearance from the county to start the second phase of training by then.
Players said that on Wednesday and Thursday, coaches set up meetings with players and their parents, encouraging them to ask questions. The players asked to not have roommates so they could more easily keep social distance — and the coaches agreed to that request.