Trump has ‘productive’ talk with Big Ten
President Donald Trump is urging the Big Ten Conference to reconsider its decision to cancel the fall football season.
In a tweet Tuesday morning, Trump said he had spoken with commissioner Kevin Warren about “immediately starting up” a season and described the conversation as “very productive.”
“Would be good (great!) for everyone
— Players, Fans, Country. On the one yard line!” Trump wrote in the tweet.
The Big Ten revealed Monday that its presidents and chancellors had voted 11-3 against playing sports this fall because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Ohio State was joined by Iowa and Nebraska in voting against the cancellation.
The conference is exploring ways to reschedule the season early next year, though school administrators are working on a plan that could involve games starting as soon as late November.
A statement from the Big Ten said the White House initiated the conversation between Trump and Warren after a representative called the league Monday. It also referred to the conversation as “productive.”
“The Big Ten Conference and its Return to Competition Task Force, on behalf of the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C), are exhausting every resource to help studentathletes get back to playing the sports they love, at the appropriate time, in the safest and healthiest way possible,” the statement added.
The contents of the meeting were not disclosed by the conference. In an open letter published a week after calling off a fall season, Warren cited rising rates of transmission of COVID-19 in
the U.S. and concerns over the testing capacity for teams as prominent reasons for the decision, along with other unknown long-term health effects from the novel virus.
At the time, Warren said the decision would not be revisited due to overwhelming support from the presidents and chancellors.
The Pac-12, which also canceled its fall sports season Aug. 11, is the only other major conference to scrap games for the rest of 2020. The Atlantic Coast, Big 12 and Southeastern conferences are moving forward with plans to play this fall.
Speaking with reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump expanded on his tweet and referred to Warren as a “great guy” and the Big Ten as a “great conference.”
“We’re pushing very hard,” Trump said. “The biggest headwind that we have is Democrats that don’t want to see it happen. But I think they want to play and the fans want to see it and the players have a lot at stake, including possibly playing in the NFL. You have a lot of great players in that conference.”
The cancellation of fall football has morphed into a campaign issue ahead of November’s presidential election.
Last week, the campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden released an ad featuring empty Big Ten stadiums and placing blame on Trump, a Republican, for his response to the pandemic and later move by the conference to call off games.
“Trump put America on the sidelines,” read the ad’s on-screen text. “Let’s get back in the game.”
Much of the Midwest includes battleground states.
At a rally in New Hampshire on Friday, Trump spoke of his desire to have football be played this fall, pushing the Big Ten to reverse course.
“These are young, strong guys,” he said. “They’re not going to be affected by the virus. If you look at it, it’s generally older people, older people that have heart conditions, that have diabetes. These are big strong guys. They’ll be just fine. But I want football back. I’ve been calling for football to be back, including Big Ten. Big Ten, get with it. Open up your season, Big Ten.” brabinowitz@dispatch.com @brdispatch Jkaufman@dispatch.com @joeyrkaufman