President Donald Trump has regularly expressed the opinion that the college football season should move forward amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He spoke about the sport once again on Saturday and mentioned that a high-profile player had reached out. Trump said that Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence called him and expressed his desire to play in 2020.
Trump made the comments during a speech on Saturday. He said that multiple players and coaches had called him to discuss the football season, including Lawrence and “Coach O,” Ed Orgeron from LSU. Trump explained that the Clemson star has a bright future in the NFL and that he is a great, young man. He also detailed some moments from the conversation and said that Lawrence “feels safer” on the football field.
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“I want to say that I want college football to come back. These are strong, healthy, incredible people. These are people that, ah, want to play football very badly. A great, great talent & QB called me 2 days ago & I spoke to him a couple of times. He said ‘sir, we want it back’” pic.twitter.com/Uyo4BN9dpi
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 15, 2020
“I want to say that I want college football to come back. These are strong, healthy, incredible people,” Trump said on Saturday. “These are people that want to play football very badly. A great, great talent and quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, called me two days ago and I spoke to him a couple of times. He said ‘sir, I just want to tell you we want it back.’ He’s an incredible quarterback, as you know, from an incredible school.”
Lawrence previously drew attention on Twitter when he prompted the “WeWantToPlay” movement. He tweeted that people are “more at risk at home” than they are on the football field. The reason he cited is that they would not take part in social distancing in their home communities and that families would have to deal with the medical expenses. Additionally, Lawrence mentioned that many players come from situations “that are not good for them” and that football provides a safe haven.
Lawrence was not the only person expressing the desire to play in 2020. Many of his fellow players tweeted support while using the “WeWantToPlay” hashtag. This included University of Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields and Clemson linebacker Jake Venables. Even the University of Arkansas’ Athletic Director Hunter Yuracheck publicly supported the movement.
“On behalf of the @RazorbackFB team (that includes my son) and each of @ArkRazorbacks student-athletes that I represent, serve, support, care for, fight for and love. #WeWantToPlay,” Yuracheck tweeted. Many other prominent figures joined him in the campaign, including Florida head coach Dan Mullen, Troy head coach Chip Lindsay and University of Mississippi Athletic Director Keith Carter. The overwhelming majority of figures associated with college football made it clear that they want to play in 2020, and Trump says that he is pushing for this outcome.
