Players’ frustration mounts

With their season in jeopardy, ’Canes add their support to #WeWantToPlay

Several Miami Hurricanes football players voiced their desire to save the 2020 college football season on Sunday night amid reports it could be in jeopardy due to COVID-19 concerns.

With a #WeWantToPlay hashtag started by college athletes trending on Twitter on Sunday, leaders on the UM football team participated.

Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King, who transferred to Miami from Houston for his redshirt senior season, first wrote, “Yeah yeah let us play!”

He later posted a graphic that began circulating late Sunday night of requests and demands united college football players in Power Five conferences came up with.

Within the message: A proclamation that they want to play football this season, universal health and safety protocols to protect them against COVID-19, guaranteed eligibility retention “whether a player chooses to play the season or not” and the creation of “a college football players association.”

Said junior tight end Brevin Jordan: “So much work has been put in. So much adversity has been overcome [because] of the game we love. #WeWantToPlay”

Senior receiver Michael Harley: “Bust My Ass This Off Season.. #WeWantToPlay”

Defensive end Quincy Roche, a graduate transfer from Temple, emphasized the safety he feels on campus at practice.

“I feel completely comfortable with the protocol and the way things are going,” he wrote.

It was a notion defensive tackle Nesta Silvera backed up: “We’re safer in school. #WeWantToPlay”

Kicker and FIU transfer Jose Borregales tweeted the hashtag, as well.

South Florida products at other ACC schools also got in on the action.

Louisville receiver Chatarius “Tutu” Atwell, a former Miami Northwestern standout, tweeted, “Lets come up with [a] plan. Don’t matter what it is anything just something so we can all play the game that we love.”

Pittsburgh defensive end Rashad Weaver, a Cooper City grad, wrote, “If opting-out is ok, then opting-in should hold just as much weight. Let those who wanna play, play and those who don’t, don’t.”

Earlier Sunday evening, star Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, in a Twitter thread, expressed that being sent home puts players at the same or greater risk in their communities than with their teams. He added that players are more motivated to take necessary precautions against the novel coronavirus with athletic competition as an incentive and worried that medical care expenses would fall on families should studentathletes contract the virus at home.

The Hurricanes held their third practice of fall camp on Sunday evening. It was closed to the media, as UM plans to do with all training camp practices, and was scheduled to have no post-practice Zoom interviews like the team had after the first two practices.

Miami coach Manny Diaz on Thursday laid out measures the team is taking to minimize close contact at practices. Among them: Eliminating certain drills, keeping distance when stretching or not actively in a drill and players sticking to their own water bottle.

Before Hurricanes camp started, star defensive end Gregory Rousseau, a top NFL draft prospect, opted out of the 2020 season and declared for the 2021 draft.

PHELAN M. EBENHACK/AP Hurricanes tight end Brevin Jordan: “So much work has been put in. So much adversity has been overcome [because] of the game we love.’’