Parent who led protest lauds Big Ten reversal
This was the goal Randy Wade had in mind all along. Make enough noise and, eventually, the Big Ten Council of Chancellors and Presidents would reconsider its vote to postpone the fall football season.
The league’s official stance is that an enhanced understanding of the coronavirus pandemic and the procurement of rapid-response, daily antigen testing – not the outcries from fans, parents, coaches, players and politicians – opened the door for an abbreviated season beginning the weekend of Oct. 24. Several Big Ten campuses have experienced significant outbreaks since welcoming students back to campus.
Regardless, Wade took the conference’s reversal as a reason to celebrate. His son, Ohio State Buckeyes cornerback Shaun Wade, announced Thursday he was returning to the program after declaring earlier in the week that he would focus his efforts on the upcoming NFL draft.
“I’m proud ... I felt like Michael Jordan smoking cigars on ‘The Last
Dance,’” Wade said.
Before Ohio State coach Ryan Day and James Franklin offered their pointed criticisms, Wade led a parent protest outside the conference headquarters on Aug. 21 in Rosemont, Illinois, 10 days after the conference voted to postpone the season.
Subsequent demonstrations on the campuses of Michigan and Ohio State, plus a lawsuit from Nebraska players, followed.
“We wouldn’t let them stop,” Wade said. “We wouldn’t let them quit. … I think we kept that spark going, us parents coming together, a collection of everybody. I’m just proud of everybody.”
The moving parts of this past week added stress to Shaun’s 22nd birthday on Wednesday, the day the conference announced its “eight-game-plus one” schedule. Well wishes accompanied questions about his potential return, which he cleared up the next night during a “Sportscenter” appearance.
“I think it’s great,” Randy Wade said of the schedule format. “I knew they could do it. Instead of just saying ‘no’ after one weekend (of practice), it was just disappointing. I knew they could do it.”