‘Gotta let us ball.’ Kentucky college athletes join #WeWantToPlay movement.
The Big Ten on Sunday night, based on multiple reports, appeared on the cusp of announcing its fall sports seasons — including football — would be postponed or canceled. Those same reports signaled that the other Power Five conferences might soon follow.
No announcements regarding any conference were made as of late Sunday night, but fears over the postponement or cancellation of the entire 2020 major college football slate sparked a hashtag movment — #WeWantToPlay — on Twitter, and several players at Kentucky’s most prominent football-playing schools — UK, a member of the Southeastern Conference, and Louisville, an Atlantic Coast Conference member — chimed in with an expression of their desire to play in the fall.
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence was credited by many for originating the movement with a Twitter thread he shared Sunday night, though he did not use the hashtag in his thread.
Below is a sampling of messages originating from in-state players.
UK
As of Monday morning, the Herald-Leader could only identify threeUK players who had chimed in: defensive standouts DeAndre Square (a linebacker) and Quinton Bohanna (a nose guard) along with wide receiver Josh Ali.
Quarterback Terry Wilson on Wednesday tweeted that he was “all in” for the upcoming season, following speculation, fueled by another tweet he made earlier in the week, that he might sit out in 2020.
U of L
A few more Louisville players had tweeted about the movement, including quarterback Malik Cunningham.
Others
More than a dozen players from Kentucky Wesleyan College — a Division II school in Owensboro whose league, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference — has not yet postponed or canceled the season — also offered their support for the movement. Quarterback Wiley Cain, a former standout at Pulaski County High School, kicked off the big chorus of Panthers who wanted their voice heard.
Former UK football star Craig Yeast is KWC’s head coach.
This story was originally published August 9, 2020 at 11:35 PM.
