MINNEAPOLIS - Less than two days after boycotting all team activities - including the Dec. 27 Holiday Bowl, if need be - University of Minnesota football players ended their boycott Saturday morning and "will immediately begin preparations" to play in the bowl.
Thursday, the entire team stood behind team leaders, who announced the team was essentially on strike until university administration met their demands, including lifting suspensions of all 10 players as a result of a September sexual assault allegation.
Friday, university president Eric Kaler released a statement saying the suspensions would not be lifted and, "The University of Minnesota will not change our values or our code of conduct for the sake of a bowl game.”
Saturday, several players gathered at the football complex Saturday morning to announce the team's plans in a prepared statement.
The statement starts with condemnation of sexual harassment and against violence women.
Here is the full statement: http://stmedia.startribune.com/documents/playerstatement.pdf
The meat of the statement was this:"On Tuesday, we along with everyone else, learned of the suspension of 10 of our teammates. Five of them had been previously suspended for an incident where they were not charged with any crime. We are not here to judge nor defend their actions – that is for the authorities. We also learned that five additional teammates were indefinitely suspended. We had questions, and still do not understand how such severe consequences could be vetted out without proper due process.
We were disappointed at the lack of communication from the administration and their unwillingness to share information about their decision, under the cover of student privacy. We also understand that they have requirements that they need to follow about sharing information. Yet at the same time, we observed how our teammates’ names and pictures were shared with the world, and reputations ruined.
We stated that we were going to boycott all football activities until our 10 teammates had their suspensions lifted. We also had a larger goal and that was to have an open discussion about the lack of due process that occurs when an accusation is made against anyone.
After many hours of discussion within our team, and after speaking with President Kaler, it became clear that our original request of having the 10 suspensions overturned was not going to happen.
Our senior group had a meeting with President Kaler and AD Mark Coyle last night, Friday the 16th, where they agreed to the following requests: That all ten of these players have a fair hearing -- which includes a diverse review panel. Number two, a showing of support for our team and the character shown by the great majority of our players. Finally, that we as a team will use our status as public figures to bring more exposure to the issue of sexual harassment and violence against women. We will have more details on our plans for that at a later time.
Therefore, we would like to announce that we are ending our boycott and will immediately begin preparations for playing in the Holiday Bowl. As a team, we understand that what has occurred these past few days, and playing football for the University of Minnesota, is larger than just us. So many before us have given so much to this University and this football team; so many coaches, staff, administrators, professors, alumni, fans, and our community have invested heavily in the success of our program. We will not...and we recognize that we must not, let these people down."
The players did not take questions after reading the team's statement.
After the announcement by Wolitarsky and the players, Kaler spoke with the media and said: "We will judge (the suspended players) very fairly. I'm grateful the student athletes ended the boycott."
Athletic director Mark Coyle added: "I'm thankful our football team came to a resolution and I'm happy we will be playing in Holiday Bowl vs. Washington State."
Head coach Tracy Claeys, who had previously tweeted his support of his players on Thursday night, was not seen and did not speak with the media.The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that late Friday night, many players left the Gophers football complex after meeting with University President Eric Kaler and other school leaders convinced the team would boycott the bowl, sources said.
The players stance then, sources said, was to stick to their boycott of all team activities due to 10 teammates being suspended earlier this week after a sexual assault investigation was conducted by the university. No charges were filed against the players, but federal law requires universities to investigate sexual assault allegations.
Sources said the players continued to discuss the boycott through the night. The players were up all night, senior receiver Drew Wolitarsky said Saturday morning, and then held an improptu 9 a.m. press conference on campus.