Louisville football: 3 things we learned from week one of camp

#LouisvilleFootballWantsToPlay

For months there has been a real concern that the 2020 college football season could be cancelled due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the United States, but I don’t know if we ever really thought that would actually happen.

With all the money on the line I figured there was no way the power five conferences would sit – especially after multiple, including the ACC, released schedules and plans for the fall. However, as you’ve probably heard many times before, “we don’t know much about this virus” and in hours, days, and weeks, things change rapidly.

Louisville went back to work for fall camp with every expectation to play and despite all the rumors and reports that the power five commissioners are planning to meet before announcing fall sports cancellations (meaning football), that still holds true.

On Sunday evening the players that make up the Louisville football roster took to social media, as did hundreds of other players across the country, expressing their desire to play. Within hours the #WeWantToPlay was trending all over social media, and nearly every single person from Louisville had voiced their reasoning for playing in a last second desperation plea.

CJ Avery, Russ Yeast, Micale Cunningham, Javian Hawkins, Marshon Ford, Tutu Atwell and countless others used their voices to speak out against the reports of a season being cancelled. Avery’s tweet stood out the most with me and it was consistent with the message from Scott Satterfield when he spoke to local media last month. Avery wrote:

"“Being around my teammates & this staff is 100% the best thing for all of us.. a lot of players come from rough environments that they do not want to go back to. It’s so much more than dealing with the virus. LETS FIND A WAY”"

Things moved quickly into the late hours of Sunday evening and into Monday morning and by the time it was all said and one, there was a joint statement released from the players of the Power 5 pleading to be heard.

There was a lot of chatter on both sides as people debated what should happen and what the final decision for the sport will be. Some praised the players for speaking up and using their power while others agreed with the Presidents & Chancellors (although, probably for the wrong reason) sentiment that a season would be far too dangerous and cause too many unknowns down the road.

We’ve highlighted on numerous occasions that the spring could be an option, should they decide to postpone instead of cancel, but it appears the players want a seat at the table to talk about how they can make the fall happen.

It’s interesting. Over the last few weeks countless players have had stories reported of less than ideal circumstances in their respective facilities, even to the point of an entire team deciding they didn’t want to play. Programs like Louisville have done everything right and now because of others who didn’t take the virus seriously and didn’t rush to put in healthy policies there’s a legitimate chance there’s no season – at least not in 2020.

Regardless of what happens, I believe we’ve reached the breaking point of the NCAA vs. student-athletes and the collegiate model as we know it could be changing for better. As I write this there is a major paradigm shift in collegiate athletics taking place and we’ve seen that with the Unity Groups forming in the Pac 12 and Big Ten.

As far as Louisville’s camp, there’s no way to tell what comes next. If reports are true, there could be an announcement as early as Tuesday or Wednesday about a full cancellation of the 2020 fall sports calendar which means that camp would likely wrap up and players would be forced to face the new reality.

It’s heartbreaking to watch the season these players have worked so hard to prepare for slip away, especially due to the greed of those around college sports. There has been months and months to plan, with numerous plans suggested even, yet to no one’s surprise – the NCAA and company got it wrong.