WSU’s Hobbs among players threatening Pac-12 boycott

In threatening a boycott of the football season Sunday, a group of Pac-12 players characterized their demands in sweeping terms.

According to one of them, Dallas Hobbs of Washington State, the most pressing need is for an assurance of safety amid the cononavirus pandemic.

“The COVID concern isn’t something we want to be negotiated,” the junior defensive lineman told ESPN. “The other stuff is definitely a lot to handle, and it’s definitely going to take some time to negotiate.”

Hobbs was one of 13 football players in the conference who attached their names to the demands, announced in an article on The Players Tribune website and in a news release. The players said they will sit out the season if the demands aren’t met, and one of them told the Associated Press they represent more than 400 players in the league.

The demands include a 50-percent share of each sport’s conference revenue, an expanded window of eligibility, the protection of nonrevenue sports from the chopping block and an increased emphasis on racial justice.

But Hobbs said the most immediate demand by far involves health and safety amid the pandemic as the Pac-12 prepares for a conference-only,10-game football schedule beginning Sept. 26. He said their concern is shared by players in other leagues, including the Southeastern Conference.

As for the other demands, “we kind of want this process to just start,” Hobbs said, “and see the Pac-12 take leadership and enforce some of these standards and enforce some of these rules to just help us out in a way.”

Rumors swirled on social media Sunday afternoon that at least one WSU player supporting the boycott was being released from the team. A source close to the situation later said no players have been cut, but confusion still prevailed.

Sophomore receiveer Kassidy Woods, at the heart of the rumors, was among at least four WSU players who used social media to lend support to the demands, which are associated with the hashtag “WeAreUnited.” The others were defensive lineman Lamonte McDougle, defensive back Pat Nunn and offensive lineman Syr Riley. McDougle, however, added that “not playing this season isn’t an option” for him.

Defensive back Skyler Thomas distanced himself from the boycott, tweeting “Ima ball player.. If there’s games I’m playing..”

Hobbs, a nose tackle from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who emerged as a prominent Cougar defender last year, said virus-related safety measures in the Pac-12 can be improved.

“I want to see the conference at its 100 percent all around the board,” he said in a news release associated with The Players Tribune article. “We lack enforced health and safety standards, putting ourselves and others at risk. I believe we need the basic rights and benefits that will help our future. We are all grateful for what we have but there is so much more that would create generational change.”

The demands came two days after the Pac-12 announced its shortened football schedule, which has the Cougars opening at home against Utah on Sept. 26.

“Because we are being asked to play college sports in a pandemic in a system without enforced health and safety standards,” the article in The Players Tribune reads, “and without transparency about COVID cases on our teams, the risks to ourselves, our families, and our communities, #WeAreUnited.”

Several demands went well beyond football and the virus. Players said they wanted a 50-percent cut of conference revenue in each sport, a six-year window to complete their four years of eligibility, an ability to transfer one time without penalty, and the freedom to return to their college teams if they unsuccessfully try to be drafted by pro leagues.

They also demanded that Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, along with coaches and other administrators, voluntarily take drastic pay cuts to help save athletic programs in danger of being dropped.

Players who signed the demands included two Washington Huskies, receiver Ty Jones and linebacker Joe Tryon. Others were Oregon’s Jevon Holland; Oregon State’s Jayden Grant, California’s Jake Curhan, Valentino Daltoso and Joshua Drayden; Stanford’s Treyhohn Butler; Utah’s Nick Ford; UCLA’s Elisha Guidry; Arizona State’s Cody Shear; and Arizona’s Malik Hausman.

“We support our student-athletes using their voice, and have regular communications with our student-athletes at many different levels on a range of topics,” the Pac-12 said in a statement Saturday, anticipating the boycott. “As we have clearly stated with respect to our fall competition plans, we are, and always will be, directed by medical experts, with the health, safety and well being of our student athletes, coaches and staff always the first priority.”

Dale Grummert may be contacted at daleg@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2290.