USC football players react to #WeWantToPlay college football players movement

USC football players joined in on Sunday night’s #WeWantToPlay movement.

If you weren’t following the world of college football on Sunday, you missed a whirlwind which will undoubtedly grab hold of the USC football world.

As reports began to circulate suggesting conference commissioners and university presidents were considering putting an end to the fall season, players began speaking up on Twitter.

It started with a thread from Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence on Twitter, who insisted that players still wanted to play. Things unraveled from there.

USC football players had mixed reactions to the #WeWantToPlay movement

On Sunday afternoon, ESPN reported rumblings that Big Ten presidents were “ready to pull the plug” and were working to gauge the interest of other conferences to follow suit.

With the inevitable looming, college football players seemed to catch on to the reality of the season being canceled or postponed.

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Lawrence’s tweet thread lead to the creation of the hashtag “#WeWantToPlay,” which garnered support from the likes of Matt Leinart and others.

While Lawrence’s initial comments seemed to unite the side of college football that bristled at the thought of the season being canceled over the coronavirus pandemic, they eventually grew into something more: a new players’ movement with a new set of demands.

Players from each of the Power 5 conferences united to release a graphic on social media stating their desire to play while asking for mandated health and safety protocols, the opportunity for players to opt-out, guaranteed eligibility for all players and, critically, the creation of a college football players association.

That last point successfully united players from #WeAreUnited in the Pac-12 and #BigTenUnited and their calls for greater power for college football players.

Trojan quarterback Kedon Slovis, who sat out from commenting on the #WeAreUnited movement, tweeted the graphic as the highest-profile Trojan to date to weigh in.

Offensive lineman Frank Martin also tweeted the graphic. He was joined by offensive lineman Jalen McKenzie

Another Trojan QB, walk-on grad transfer Mo Hasan from Vanderbilt, went a step further by tweeting the graphic along with a statement about the necessity of representation for college football players.

However, at least one player called out his perception of the sudden change in tone on the players’ side of things.

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Running back Markese Stepp retweeted several high profile players who shared the #WeWantToPlay graphic as well as some of Lawrence’s tweets, but he also added this:

The college football season is in serious jeopardy. The players have their work cut out for them if they want to stop the wave of cancelations. We’ll see if this latest unity movement can pull it off.