By now I’ve lost count of all the letters Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren has received. In fact, he and Santa Claus might be waging a U.S. Postal Service arms race by the end of the year.
There have been parent letters, open letters, virtual letters, and more that we’ll likely never know about. And now, we’ve got one more very important one to add to that list.
According to several reports, state political leaders from around the great Midwest have sent a letter to the commish asking him and the Big Ten to reconsider their decision to postpone fall sports, including college football.
Thanks to Lee Chatfield, speaker of the Michigan House, we get a peek at the full context of the letter below in a tweet he shared on Tuesday morning. It is signed by state leaders from Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ohio.
We have the full context of the letter on the next page in the event you can’t get into the Twitter link below.
In it, the state leaders applaud the testing and monitoring in place in the Big Ten and ask that their student-athletes not suffer while many others across the country are playing.
The B1G can play sports safely. And the B1G should play sports safely. They should reverse the decision. Here’s a letter that Midwest legislative leaders sent to Commissioner Warren today urging the reconsideration of the decision to cancel fall sports. Let’s go! #LetTheB1GPlay pic.twitter.com/Q89JaZwLQ6
— Lee Chatfield (@LeeChatfield) September 8, 2020
Next … Full transcript of Midwest leaders’ letter to Kevin Warren
Next … Full transcript of Midwest leaders’ letter to Kevin Warren
“Commissioner Warren:”
“We would like to express our desire for the Big Ten Conference to reconsider the decision to cancel the football season. After hearing from many concerned students, parents and coaches, we have been encouraged to convey our support for their wishes and our responsibility to defend the students’ long-term academic and career interests.”
“Recent actions taken by other conferences across the country to start football and other fall sports have placed the Big Ten, its members and students at a disadvantage. These athletes are losing a vital part of student life and are becoming less marketable to future employers with each passing week. Additional.y, our local universities stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars that support vital student scholarships.”
“This is even more frustrating when we think of how our Big Ten athletic programs are leading the way by providing outstanding health and safety protocols. All of that unprecedented planning and teamwork was an unmitigated success, and yet somehow the conference has decided to cast it aside anyway.”
“Just last month, under your leadership, the Big Ten released updated enhanced testing, quarantine and isolation policies. Our coaches and players should be given a chance to make them work. After all, this region is home to some of the world’s leading institutions of higher learning, scientific research and medicine, and we are confident that they can continue to safeguard the health and safety of our student athletes.”
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