SEC and ACC players release letter via attorney requesting safety and eligibility changes

The last two weeks has produced a mountain of NCAA football news. As many teams around the country are preparing to play football in the fall, the reality of that idea continues to be heavily debated amongst state officials and administrators due to the coronavirus.

Over the weekend, it seemed that the 2020 college football season was about to crumble right before our eyes when it was rumored that the Big Ten would announce complete cancellation. However, optimism began to swirl on Monday as the SEC and other conference dug in their heels a bit hopeful that playing games in the fall remains an option.

All that being said, the majority of the people who would be putting their health at risk should their be live competition is the actual players. Following in the steps of the PAC-12, who made a similar statement a few weeks ago, select players from the SEC and ACC released a letter, via their attorney, requesting the implementation of safety protocol. The letter, released on Monday by Miami based attorney Jason Setchen, also called for some immediate changes to eligibility requirements.

The four page document was specifically crafted for, Greg Sankey, commissioner of the SEC, John Swofford, commissioner of the ACC, and NCAA president, Mark Emmert.

Here are the three main points:

• 1. A COVID-19 eligibility waiver
• 2. Health and Safety for all
• 3. Immediate implementation of the one-Time transfer waiver

A major point to the eligibility waiver request is that players would retain their year of eligibility even if they participate in games this year. Setchen, the self-proclaimed “Athlete-Defender” noted that these unprecedented times would warrant allowing players to keep their year of eligibility.

Access to more testing was also mentioned and seems to be a growing trend among the concerns surrounding college football teams. Figuring this out seems crucial to moving forward with any travel and live-game action.

How realistic are some of these requests? In these uncharted waters it’s hard to say. But one thing is for sure — college athletes have a louder voice than ever before and it’c becoming clear that they intend to use it.

You can read the entire document here: