PSU Football Parents Seek Answers
UNIVERSITY PARK – Football parents from Penn State have joined their counterparts from Iowa and Ohio State, sending letters seeking answers as to the postponement of Big 10 football this season.
The Penn State letter contained signatures from 82 parents, the letter drafted to Big 10 commissioner Kevin Warren and Penn State president Eric Barron. The letter went out Saturday and asked for a response within five days. The Big 10 had announced the postponement on Aug. 11, citing issues related to dealing with COVID-19. So far, the Big 10 and the Pac-10 are the only two “Power Five” football conferences to announce that football won’t be played this fall.
The letter from the Penn State parents:
Dear Commissioner Warren and President Barron:
On August 5th when the Big Ten Football schedule for the Fall of 2020 was released you said, “I have a son who’s a football student-athlete in the SEC at Mississippi State. And, so, I’ve asked myself as a father, would I be comfortable for him to participate in the Big Ten based upon the testing policies, protocols and procedures we have in place? And as of today, the answer is yes.” We, the undersigned parents of Penn State Football believed you. Additionally, we trusted our coaches along with the medical staff at our University and the procedures they put in place to ensure the physical and social-emotional well being of the players in the pursuit of competing in the Fall of 2020. We want to know what changed in six days and why was this decision rushed before the Big Ten Conference and the NCAA could answer some of the most basic questions regarding the futures of these student-athletes.
On Tuesday August 11th The Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Disease and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee cited ongoing health concerns of Covid 19 as the reason to cancel to protect the students, faculty, and staff at the Big Ten Universities. However, in the coming weeks, these same institutions will welcome back tens of thousands of students. This student population will gather, socialize and live in communal settings.
The Penn State University Athletic Department in conjunction with the Football Medical and Training staffs have led the nation in ensuring the safety of the players, our sons, the coaches and support staff over the last two months. Our sons were regularly tested and contact tracing protocols were developed to ensure player safety as well as parent confidence A small number of athletes were quarantined and isolated as an appropriate response to a positive test result. As of the last testing release on Wednesday August 12th, ZERO Penn State athletes tested positive for Covid 19. This is proof that minimal risk for the virus can be achieved. We believe that these young men and women are being cared for both physically and mentally in a manner that cannot be replicated in their own communities. Our athletes are elite not only in their performance on the field, but in their health status and medical care. The CDC uses 19-29 year olds as the benchmark for fatality comparison. The fatality rate for that group is .1% with the preponderance of fatalities in individuals with comorbid conditions. As parents we deserve answers as to whether these decisions are based on science or the avoidance of liability.
With the untimely cancelation of the season student-athletes and their parents are left with unanswered questions. As a result we request the following:
• A clear presentation of the medical information used by The Big Ten Task Force in the decision to cancel to the Fall 2020 season.
• A reinstatement of the schedule as presented on August 5th with open dates used as new dates for games as needed.
• A Zoom meeting with our parents to answer questions regarding eligibility including the status of 5th year seniors and players who chose to opt out of competition in 2020.
